


Reverser and Mightillustrator: Dark Lady

by christallized



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Bunnix - Freeform, Carapace, Fluff, I also in truth don't know how old they are so I don't know if it's underage, I say archive warnings don't apply but, King Monkey, M/M, Mightillustrator - Freeform, Mild Smut, Pegasus - Freeform, Rena Rouge, Romance, Viperion - Freeform, and Major Character death is a kinda ehh, art included because I can, candle cooking a soup kind of slowburn, reverser - Freeform, ryuko - Freeform, slowburn, the package deal of emotions, the whole hero squad y'know, very slowburn, wholesome bois
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:00:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 56,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26228314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/christallized/pseuds/christallized
Summary: Reverser and Mightillustrator are two of the four main heroes of Paris.Reverser doesn't know Might's identity.Might knows Reverser's identity and is hopelessly in love.On top of that, a Ladybug from the future has been akumatized, turning heroes into enemies, akumas are running wild, Might and Reverser have a lot of unresolved romantic and sexual tension, and there's chaos everywhere.Y'know, a normal day in Paris.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marc Anciel/Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Reverser/Mightillustrator
Comments: 230
Kudos: 66
Collections: MarcNath Fics!





	1. A Normal Day in Paris

It was a normal day in Paris, France.

The sun was shining on a somewhat cloudy day, with the slight hint of an approaching warm front in the breeze.

It was midday, mildly humid but not completely unbearable. There were a few pigeons circling in the air, looking for any hapless person who would be foolish enough to abandon their food.

There weren't many citizens outside today. Perhaps because of the special broadcast from the Mayor going on at that moment. Perhaps because of the 80-foot tall octopus-looking Akuma Mecha that was demolishing streets and buildings like a toddler in a house of cards. Perhaps the weather actually was humid enough to be noticeably unpleasant.

Overall, it was a normal day.

“Ladybug!” Chat Noir called, skillfully jumping out of the way as a mechanical arm slammed down on the building he was in, bisecting the building with a loud crash. “I think the mech's an Amok! The Akuma has to be inside of it!”

A laser beam shot from the Mecha's back, aiming for the superheroine, but missed and hit a billboard, instantly disintegrating the structure into a million tiny particles.

“What do you mean?!” Ladybug yelled back, coughing as a cloud of what was once a billboard for chicken wings blew in her face.

“When we faced the Akuma earlier today, it was using all the weapons that the Mecha has now!” Chat Noir said. “And the Mecha didn't have any lasers or rockets until the Akuma disappeared!”

Ladybug swung over the mech's head in a large and graceful arc, landing next to Chat Noir. “Smart thinking,” she said, raising a hand to her earpiece. “You catch that, Might?”

“I got it,” a voice replied. Four of the many tentacles of the Mecha slammed down on the street, where a small figure was circling its legs. Parts of the legs were slowly falling away as the joints and bolts dissipated in small, glowing strokes, erased away into nothing.

Mightillustrator dodged the mass of stomping limbs like a rat skittering across the floor of a crowded room, erasing anywhere that looked like wires or chunks of metal might connect. “Once I get this Mecha to lose its footing, you two move in and find a way into the cockpit,” he yelled. “Where is Reverser?”

“On his way,” Ladybug responded. “We'll keep the rest of the limbs off of you until then.”

Like an enraged beast, the Mecha surged forward, destroying everything in its path. A large, spinning orb sat at the center of the writhing mass of metal tentacles, covered in metal flaps that would lift up to shoot lasers, or rockets, or even the occasional fifteenth-century cannonball. And at the very top of the orb sat a smaller orb made of black glass, just big about enough to fit a person. Little red dots skittered across the surface of the glass like hundreds of tiny eyes, pinpointing their next targets.

“It would be a lot easier for us if you just erased the entire leg,” Chat Noir yelled.

Mightillustrator's voice buzzed back in their ears, full of unmistakable sarcasm and snark. “Oh, right, I was just taking my time here because I LOVE GETTING NEARLY PANCAKED BY A GIANT TENTACLED MECH-OH SHIT!” The artist ducked as a limb whizzed over his head. “I can't erase the limbs, they're too big!”

“Can't you make the eraser bigger?”

“CaN'T yOu MaKe tHe ErASer BiGGer? No! I can't!” Mightillustrator backflipped out of the way as a metal arm swung across the street in a wide arc, sending several cars and the stoplight flying. “Why don't you use your cataclysm to destroy the entire Mecha then and save us the trouble?”

Chat Noir scowled. “It's too big,” he begrudgingly admitted.

“Oh? What was that? I didn't hear you.”

Chat Noir could almost imagine the smug grin on Mightillustrator's face and a stubborn frown crossed his face. “I said go choke on a-”

“Now is not the time for fighting!” Ladybug jumped, wrapping her yo-yo around one of the Mecha's legs and swinging to the backside of a nearby building. The Mecha pulled against the string, and Ladybug winced as the yo-yo's strings cut into the brick and metal of the establishment.

“Now!”

With a flick of Mightillustrator's pen, the joints connecting the knees of the Mecha vanished, and the Mecha toppled onto the ground.

“Chat Noir!”

Chat Noir jumped onto the ground, running towards the fallen Mecha. “Catacly-WHOA!” Several of the limbs moved with blinding speed, slamming into the ground where Chat Noir had stood just seconds ago. “There's too many limbs! I can't get close!”

“Hold on,” Mightillustrator said, beginning to sketch.

Several of the red eyes focused into a single dot, glaring in Mightillustrator's direction. Some of the metal flaps flicked open, and a dozen rockets burst from the sphere, speeding towards the ground.

“Might!” Ladybug yelled.

The street exploded.

Chat Noir was flung backwards several feet. Ladybug clung to her yo-yo, which still secured the Mech's remaining leg to the building. The surrounding area was covered in a large cloud of dust and fire.

“Might!” Ladybug called. “Might, answer me!”

“That was too close!” Mightillustrator shrieked. “Up here, by the way.”

Ladybug looked up. Mightillustrator was several feet in the air, a large pair of white wings holding him aloft.

The Mecha shifted, hundreds of pieces of metal rearranging as it rose. One of the limbs took the place of the now broken leg, and it stood again.

“Oh, come on!” Might yelled. “That's just unfair!”

The Mecha swung its leg, and Ladybug jumped away as the building it had been secured to crumbled and fell. The yo-yo untangled from the Mecha, and it continued its rampage across the city.

“Might, slow it down!” Ladybug ordered.

“On it!” Mightillustrator zoomed forward, sketching. Seconds later, a small grenade materialized in the air. Might grabbed it, pulled the pin, and threw it at the Mecha. It hit one of the limbs and exploded, sending the giant robot careening forward. Several of the limbs moved to brace it, as the multiple eyes turned to pinpoint Mightillustrator with fury.

“Shit-”

One of the limbs swung out before the hero could react, connecting solidly with Mightillustrator's body. There was a sickening crunch as the artist was sent flying, his wings snapping and disintegrating into a scattering of blue lights.

“No!” Ladybug screamed.

Time seemed to slow as the hero was catapulted into the sky, blue sparks and red flecks trailing behind him.

Mightillustrator fell.

His limp body rocketed towards the ground. Even as Ladybug ran forward, she knew she couldn't reach him in time.

“Might!” she yelled. “Might!”

A black and white blur whizzed by her, nearly knocking her over with the sudden speed.

“I've got him!”

Darting through the tangle of robot arms, Reverser rocketed towards Might, catching him just before he hit the ground, the tip of his glider skidding against the concrete.

“Sorry I'm late,” he called back.

Rising out of reach of the Mecha, the monochrome hero carried the artist up to the roof of a nearby building. Jumping off the glider, he set Might down, running a quick hand across the front of the unconscious artist's suit.

None of his ribs were broken. However, from the unnatural angle of his nose and the blood pooling over his lip, it looked like Might had taken the brunt of the blow to his face.

“From sleep to wake,” Reverser muttered, raising his hand. A paper airplane materialized between his fingers. “Sorry, this will probably feel really bad.” He pressed the airplane into Mightillustrator's stomach, where it vanished. “Reversion!”

Mightillustrator's eyes snapped open.

“Fuck!”

“Glad to see you too.”

The artist raised a hand to his face, groaning. “What happened?”

“You got punched by a twelve-story tentacle monster,” Reverser stated in a matter-of-fact way.

Might shot a dirty look at the hero. “You could at least pretend to be sympathetic,” he complained.

“No time. The sooner we finish this fight, the sooner Ladybug can heal you.”

“Well, you're just the epitome of bedside manner, aren't you?” Mightillustrator got to his feet, grimacing.

Ladybug's voice spoke through their earpieces. “Well, whatever you threw at that Mecha seems to have knocked a few plates loose and made a hole. Reverser, do you think you could get Might past the limbs and inside the body of the Mecha?”

“Leave it to me,” Reverser said. The glider swooped to his side, and he jumped on. “Might, do you trust me?”

Much like Ladybug and Chat Noir, Reverser and Mightillustrator had grown close to each other as partners and friends. Sure, they squabbled and fought and got on each other's nerves like no one else could. But they also trusted each other, so much so that Reverser usually knew the answer to his question before it was spoken.

Mightillustrator grinned. “Without a doubt.” He stepped onto the glider, linking one arm with Reverser.

Reverser squinted. “I think you're missing a tooth,” he said.

Mightillustrator ran a finger along the gums of his mouth. “Fuck,” he hissed. “How do I look overall, though?”

“You look like shit.”

“I'm gonna spit blood on you.”

“Don't.”

“Yeah, you're right. Seeing color on your suit might give you an aneurysm.”

Reverser leaned forward, and the glider took off with a sudden burst of speed. Even if he didn't show it, Reverser felt a smug hint of competitive satisfaction at how Mightillustrator's face turned pale under his purple skin and he clutched at Reverser's arm, hissing curse words under his breath.

The Mecha reared, swatting at them with a horde of large tentacles. Reverser laughed as he danced among the outskirts of the whirling mass of metal, searching until his eyes fell onto the small open gap in the sphere, blackened and covered in ash. Mightillustrator's grip tightened as the glider bucked and swayed, and his head pressed against Reverser's shoulder, eyes squeezed shut.

“Hey Might, are you okay?” Reverser taunted. “Your face looks a little purple.”

“Fuck. You.” Might hissed.

Reverser bit back his response, feeling a bit of pity for his friend. Just a bit. “Hold on tight,” he warned, crouching lower on the glider. “We're heading in soon.”

“Oh God.”

“We'll do this on the count of three, okay?”

Might took a deep breath. “Okay.”

“One.” And Reverser dove in.

“GOD FUCKING DAMMIT SHIT FUCK HOLY GOD DAMN-”

Like a wild animal, the Mecha began to swipe at them, limbs crossing and bending and swinging with fury. Reverser spun and dashed through the limbs, up and down and over and around while Mightillustrator screamed.

“-FUCK HOLY COCK SHITTING DAMMIT SHIT SHIT GOD FUCK NO-”

There was the opening. Reverser shifted his weight, speeding towards the hole like a bullet.

“-YOU ASS HAT SHITTING PIECE OF GARBAGE SHITFUCK-”

“Go!” Reverser pushed Mightillustrator off of him, into the hole, and sped away.

“YOU FUCKER!” Might called back, his voice nearly lost in the whirr of mechanical parts and Reverser's own laughter as the monochrome hero flew away.

“Might,” Ladybug said flatly through the intercom, “We talked about cursing as a superhero.”

There was a beat of silence, which was honestly quite incredible considering the gigantic ball of angry octopus machine was still moving around and trying to kill them.

“Sorry,” Might said.

“What's your status?” Chat Noir asked.

“Well, it's very roomy in here. There's a lot of important-looking wires.”

Ladybug grinned. “Think this metal ball could do without a few of those wires?”

“Oh, I'm counting on it.”

“Look out!” Reverser shouted as the Mecha caught sight of Ladybug and Chat Noir on a nearby building. Lasers began to shoot from its body again, carving deadly lines up and down the streets of Paris.

“Look, Mecha,” Chat Noir yelled as he jumped across the rooftops. “I know the whole cat-chasing-a-laser thing is a trope and all, but this is kind of overdoing it, don't you think?”

The Mecha responded by slamming two of its limbs down in front of and behind Chat Noir, trapping him, as a third limb lunged forward to finish the job.

There was a hiss, and a puff of steam, and the third limb suddenly went limp, slapping to the ground and crushing several trucks like soda cans.

“I think I got it!” Mightillustrator yelled.

“Let's go, team!” Ladybug charged forward, spinning her yo-yo. Chat Noir ran across one of the limbs, twirling his baton. Reverser stayed back, ready to catch someone if the Mecha felt like punting any more heroes across the city.

“Cataclysm!” Chat Noir yelled, running up to the top of the sphere and pressing his hand against the black glass. It folded and crumbled into his touch.

As the glass turned to dust, there was a sudden yell, and a shrieking, four-armed Akuma threw herself through the smokescreen at Chat Noir, knocking him off balance and sending them both tumbling. The Mecha struggled weakly, smoke hissing from several joints.

Chat Noir kicked the akumatized woman away as his back slammed into the ground, forcing the air from his lungs. The Akuma rolled away, springing back towards him with sudden agility.

“Give me your miraculous!” She yelled, the hundreds of metal pins and badges on her chest gleaming as she reached out towards him.

A yo-yo wrapped around one of her arms. “Reverser! Now!” Ladybug yelled.

“Your fierceness makes you strong,” Reverser said, gliding down to the street and hopping off. “Now your tranquility commands you.” A paper airplane flew from his hand and hit her in the face.

“Reversion.”

The fire in the Akuma's eyes died out, and her arms dropped to her sides. She stood, zombie-like in front of the heroes, tongue slowly lolling out of her mouth.

“I think this is the one,” Reverser said, picking a shiny gold medal from her vest. The Akuma's head turned to watch as he threw the medal to Ladybug, but she made no move to stop them.

With a snap, the medal broke, and Ladybug quickly dealt with the resulting butterfly. The Akuma dissolved, replaced with a normal looking human, eyes still empty and emotionless.

Reverser pointed back to the Mecha. “Well, who feels like tracking down an Amok in this giant death trap?”

“That's a lot to search,” Chat Noir said.

Ladybug nodded. “Maybe a little luck can help,” she said. “Lucky Charm!”

An ornate rug dropped into her hands.

“Great.” Chat Noir ran his hands experimentally across the cloth. “Maybe we can roll out the red carpet for this feather. Kinda reminds me of Predictevility, if I'm being honest.”

“Let's start by checking the cockpit,” Ladybug said. “Reverser, you go check in with Might.”

“Got it.” Reverser glided up to the hole in the Mecha, jumping to the edge.

Extending his hand, the glider began to shift, folding into a small black book that Reverser grabbed before jumping in.

Once he navigated his way through the external plates, Reverser found himself in complete and total darkness. Even the way out was positioned in such a way that no light managed to make it into this portion of the Mecha.

“Might? Are you in here?” Reverser squinted, waving a hand in front of his face experimentally. It was too dark for him to even see his own fingers. “Might?”

“Yeah,” a voice called back. “Over here!”

Slowly, Reverser navigated his way further into the pitch black until his hands found smaller, less angular hands.

“I thought you were useless in the dark,” Reverser said.

He could almost visualize the pout on Might's face. “Well, it wasn't dark when I got in here,” the artist defended. “I was erasing things, and I guess one of those things was connected to the lights.”

“So you've been stuck here.”

“I got the job done! Now we just have to wait for Ladybug and Chat Noir to find the Amok and then we'll be out!”

Reverser sighed. “Yeah. How's the face?”

“Still hurts,” Might said. “The adrenaline's starting to fade, so I can really feel it now.”

“Ouch.”

“All that erasing drained a lot of my energy. Do you mind if I just hold onto you for a sec...?”

“Oh yeah, sure.”

There was a long silence then. Reverser could hear Mightillustrator's breath, echoed in the large, metal pit that they'd gotten themselves stuck in. He kept his hand in Might's, a little afraid to let go but unwilling to show it.

“You know, after this is over, we could go get coffee or something,” Might said, casually and conversationally.

“Might.”

“There's a great bakery nearby that sells the best macaroons.”

“Quit it.”

“Marc.”

Reverser stiffened. “Stick to code names,” he hissed.

“No one's around,” Mightillustrator said. “Listen. We're friends. Partners. I trust you with my heart, my life, everything I have.”

“We're superheroes,” Reverser said, his tone cold and emotionless. “We can't risk relationships. Especially when _I_ don't know your identity and you do.”

“I'd tell you,” Might said, earnest as he squeezed Reverser's hand. “Ladybug and Chat Noir already know who I am. What's one more person in on the secret going to do?”

“One more chance for Hawkmoth to akumatize one of us and learn who you are,” Reverser answered icily. “I'm not taking that chance. Besides...I have feelings for someone else.”

Might gave a sharp intake of breath. “Who?”

“I'm not telling. Unlike you, I know the importance of keeping secrets.”

“You don't have to rub it in,” Might grumbled.

Awkwardly, Reverser put a hand on Might's shoulder. “Mightillustrator,” he said, “You're my friend. And I'm saying this as a friend because I don't...want to lead you on. But we have a responsibility to keep Paris safe. That has to come first.”

“I get it,” Might said. “I do. But, if this boy that you have feelings for doesn't work out...my offer for coffee and macaroons is still open.”

“How are you so sure it's a boy?”

Mightillustrator laughed. “Because I know you.”

“Hmm. Touche.”

There was a swirl of ladybugs in the air, and the two found themselves back in the sunlight, holding hands and wincing at the sudden brightness.

“Oh thank God,” Mightillustrator said, patting his newly healed face. “I can feel my beautiful cheekbones again.”

“I'm guessing you two found the Amok,” Reverser said as a way of greeting Chat Noir and Ladybug.

“No, the Mecha just decided to turn invisible,” Chat Noir said, pointing to the now undamaged streets and buildings. Reverser rolled his eyes at Chat's sarcasm, crossing his arms.

“Chat Noir, you're about to transform back,” Ladybug warned.

“Whoops! Gotta split! Ladies, Gentleman, Mightillustrator-”

“Screw you, cat face.”

“Yeah. See you later!” With a cheerful wave, Chat Noir extended his baton, leaping onto the nearest building and vanishing.

“Good job, team,” Ladybug said, turning to the previously akumatized woman. The woman in question was blinking, her grogginess gone and her eyes just a little wild.

“Welp.” Reverser stretched, his paper suit crinkling as he moved. “Guess it's time for me to get home and finish my homework.”

“Have fun with that,” Mightillustrator said.

“I won't, but thanks for the suggestion.” Reverser waved his hand, and the glider floated to his feet. “See you all tomorrow.”

“See ya.”

“Bye!”

“What the fuck am I doing here? Who are you people?”

“Oh, right. Ladybug, can you...?”

“Yeah, I'll take her home.”

~oOo~

Hawkmoth stared out into the open window, tapping his fingers against his cane. The butterflies around him seemed to sense his restlessness, darting in unpredictable flight patterns around him. Beside him, Mayura stood silent and regal, waiting.

“Mayura,” he said.

“Yes?”

“Are the preparations ready?”

“Yes, sir. With the heroes distracted, I managed to get everything in order. By tomorrow, we will definitely be victorious.”

Hawkmoth grinned. “Excellent news.”

In his hands, he held a tablet, watching as Nadja Chamack interviewed the mayor of Paris.

“Tomorrow, myself and every hero in Paris will be going on an international trip to discuss the existence of superheroes as a form of power in our social system,” Mayor Bourgeois was saying to a crowd of reporters. “This will become a moment that will be marked in history!”

It was a normal day in Paris.

Perhaps the last normal day they'd have for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins...
> 
> Art of the Mecha here:  
> https://dragonchris.tumblr.com/post/628028637558489088/art-from-chapter-1-of-miracles-stories-of


	2. Reverser, the Villain

_Approximately One Year before the Present Day_

“I am Reverser!” A monochrome figure yelled from his glider as Nadja Chamack and her insistent TV crew followed him from below. “I demand that you bring Marinette and Nathaniel to me at once!”

“You better have a good explanation for this,” Ladybug said as she leaned against the wall of a nearby building, holding onto a windowsill for support. Behind her, Chat Noir cowered and shivered, something he never would have done normally. Crouched on top of the roof was Mightillustrator, watching Reverser circle the Eiffel tower in the distance.

“I’ll explain later,” he hissed, ducking back into cover as the villain's circling came closer to their hiding spot. “Right now we need to focus on figuring out how to defeat him.”

“We can’t use Nathaniel for....obvious reasons,” Ladybug said, gesturing up to the artist. “And it’ll take too long to find out where Marinette is hiding.”

“I could detransform,” Mightillustrator suggested. “He reversed my drawing ability, so I'm practically useless anyway. I can’t even draw a circle anymore. How pathetic is that?”

“At least you can still move like a superhero,” Ladybug said, knees buckling as she tried to steady herself. “I’ve got two left feet.”

“And I’ve got two left hands!"

"You're already left-handed-"

"You know what I mean! Look, just...just let me do this, it’s my fault he was akumatized in the first place.”

“No way,” Chat Noir said. “It’s too dangerous. What if Reverser finds out that you’re Mightillustrator?”

Ladybug nodded. “I’m not letting you put your identity at risk like this. We’re doing this together. If this plan goes south, you’ll still have a fighting chance as a superhero. Besides, just because you can’t draw doesn’t mean you can’t erase.”

Mightillustrator sighed. “Alright. We’ll follow your lead, Ladybug.”

Chat Noir nodded. “Ready when you are, M’lady.”

~oOo~

  
  


One very difficult battle later, the Miraculous team found themselves on a nearby rooftop, with a black-haired teenager in a red hoodie sitting on the ground, looking dazed. Mightillustrator felt a twinge of guilt. There was no mistaking it, that was Marc.

“That was close,” Ladybug said. “Good job out there, boys.”

“Yeah, next time, could you at least act hesitant before offering up both of us as bait?” Mightillustrator put his hands on his hips.

Chat Noir laughed. “It all worked out in the end though; we were fine! I had complete faith in you.”

“You didn’t stop screaming the whole time you were tied to the kite!” Mightillustrator retorted.

“I had faith in _Ladybug_ ,” Chat Noir emphasized. “I don't have faith in your knot-tying skills.”

“Well, it’s lucky that Alix girl came along to help me out,” Ladybug admitted. “I wouldn’t have been able to fly that on my own.”

“Uh...what am I doing here?” A timid voice brought the team back to attention.

“Oh, right,” Chat Noir said, glancing at Marc, then at his ring. “I don’t have a lot of time left before I detransform.”

“Me neither.” Ladybug placed a hand over her earrings. “Might, can you take this boy back to his school?”

“Oh...alright,” Mightillustrator said.

“We’ll talk during tonight's patrol,” she said, before twirling her yo-yo and swinging away. "Bug out!"

Mightillustrator could feel Marc’s eyes on him. Did he know that the person who had saved him was the same person who'd hurt him in the first place? He wanted to apologize, to say something-but he couldn't. Not now. Not in this form.

Might took a deep breath and turned around, offering a hand to the person who he wasn’t supposed to know. “Rough day?” He said, giving a considerate smile.

Marc looked away, and Mightillustrator suddenly wished he hadn’t said that. The boy took his hand and let the hero pull him to his feet, before immediately stuffing his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.

“Hey, it’s alright,” Mightillustrator said. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Marc looked at him then, green eyes surrounded by a red and slightly puffy face, as though he had been crying. He probably had been. That didn’t make Mightillustrator feel any better.

Mightillustrator looked away and quickly began sketching on his tablet. A pair of white wings bloomed into existence and unfolded from his back seconds later. “Well, then. Shall we go?”

Marc nodded silently, and after a moment of hesitation from both, Mightillustrator scooped the boy into his arms and jumped off the roof, opening his wings and gliding across the sky.

Flying was usually exhilarating and slightly terrifying for Might. But seeing Marc like this, curled in his arms and quiet, it felt emotionless and cold. It felt like a walk of shame.

After a silent and awkward flight, the two landed at the steps of the school. Marc found his footing and stepped away from Mightillustrator, hugging one arm to his side.

“Thanks,” Marc said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I meant it when I said it wasn’t your fault.”

“Huh?”

Mightillustrator faltered as Marc stared at him, shocked. He chose his words slowly, carefully. “You didn’t deserve to be hurt. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sure your friends will agree with me on that.”

“I...uh…”

“Well, I gotta go,” Might said, and with a burst of his wings, he was high in the air, away from the awkward tension that he'd created.

Marc watched him go, mouth partly open, looking a little disoriented and confused.

Mightillustrator circled to the back of the school, ducking into an alleyway as the transformation dropped. Tucking his pencil into the inside pocket of his jacket, the red-headed artist took a second to lean against the wall and breathe.

Why did he do that? Why did he say that?

He shouldn't have said anything.

But Marc had looked so sad...

There was still something he had to do.

He had to make it right.

Marc gave himself a second to breathe, his thoughts still disjointed, then made his way up the steps of the school. Akumatization didn't change the fact that he still had homework in his locker that needed to be done.

“Marc!”

The writer spun on his heel as Nathaniel ran up the steps towards him, out of breath. Nathaniel saw a dozen different emotions cross the boy’s face-fear, mistrust, shock-

“I’m sorry,” Nathaniel panted, hands on his knees as he wheezed for breath. “I was way out of line, I jumped to conclusions, I never should have said those things to you and I’m really sorry. I-”

“It’s alright.”

Nathaniel looked up. Marc had a small smile on his face, looking down as he fidgeted with his fingerless gloves. “I should have been bolder,” he said. “I shouldn’t have gone through this whole elaborate scheme to make sure that if you didn’t like my writings you wouldn’t know-”

“Didn’t like them? Marc, your writing is amazing!”

Marc felt his heart trip over itself as his eyes snapped up to meet Nathaniel's. “What?”

Nathaniel was beaming now. “I’ve never read writing like yours. You’re incredibly talented! Don't blame yourself, it was my fault.”

“Does...does that mean you’d like to work on a comic book then? Together, I mean.”

Nathaniel smiled.

~oOo~

Night patrols were one of Mightillustrator’s least favorite parts of superhero duty.

Sure, the fresh air was nice, and he could doodle to his heart’s content with few interruptions, but when his mind wasn’t full of ideas, the hours were long and insufferable, and Mightillustrator had dozed off on more than one of his patrols.

Tonight, the three heroes sat on the rooftop of an office building. The flat roof and the wide vantage point made it an ideal spot to reconvene and discuss things when necessary. Mightillustrator sat, cross-legged, while Chat Noir and Ladybug sat on the other side of the roof. Ladybug looked intimidating in her kind but stern way. Chat Noir looked confused.

“So,” Ladybug finally said. “What happened this morning?”

Mightillustrator hesitated, then sighed. “I did a dumb thing," He admitted. "I’ve been looking for a writer to collaborate with for my drawings at school. According to what Marc told me, he was hoping to work with me, but was too shy to ask. So our friend, Marinette, offered to erase his name off one of his stories, “Diary of Ladybug”, and see what I thought of it.”

“Oh, no,” Chat Noir said. “Let me guess, you thought it was Ladybug's actually diary?”

Mightillustrator hunched his shoulders. “I thought you were maybe giving me insight into your real identity,” he admitted. “And then, when Marinette offered to have me meet the original author, I thought…”

“You thought you’d learn my true identity and met Marc instead,” Ladybug finished, then sighed. “I’ve told you before, our identities are secret for a reason.”

“I know,” Mightillustrator said, drawing his knees to his chest. “I just...it’s frustrating. It feels like I’m being kept in the dark, since the two of you know who I am, and I...”

“You’re not being kept in the dark,” Ladybug assured him. “There’s just...a lot that we don’t know about how you became a hero. We need to be cautious, alright? Trust us with what you can, and we’ll trust you with what we can. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s what we’ve got.”

Mightillustrator nodded. “Okay. Thanks, guys.”

A notification on Mightillustrator’s tablet began to buzz. He quickly swiped over to the news function on it, while Ladybug pulled out her yo-yo and Chat Noir peeked over her shoulder.

“An Akuma alert,” Ladybug said.

"Two in one day?" Chat Noir said. "Sheesh. How much do you think some hired help might cost?"

"I don't think heroes can have stand-ins," Mightillustrator said. "No matter how much my exhaustion disagrees."

Ladybug jumped on the railing. “Let’s go, team.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently if I don't have an end note it repeats the one from chapter one so...hello all
> 
> Hope y'all like flashbacks
> 
> Edit: Thank you UN for showing me how to make it so end notes don't repeat!


	3. The Breaking Point

“Hey, careful!”

“Sorry!” Mightillustrator called, pushing past the crowd, carrying a large paper bag in his hands. The airport was crowded, full of people who were trying to go about their business and nosy reporters who were trying to stick their noses into other people's business.

“Over here!”

Rena Rouge's voice carried over the crowd, and Mightillustrator followed her voice to where Paris' entire stock of heroes were sitting, waiting for Ladybug and Mayor Bourgeois.

“Hey, short stuff,” Bunnix said, leaning on her umbrella.

“Hey, discount Alice-in-Wonderland,” Mightillustrator responded.

Bunnix laughed. “Oh, I'm not the discount,” she said with a conspiratorial wink. “I'm the original.”

Carapace leant over to Viperion and Pegasus. “I can't tell if she's actually being serious or joking.”

“I think she's serious,” Chat Noir answered. “By the way, Might, why did you spend money on food?”

“Yeah!” King Monkey spread his arms over the seats, taking up space in the most obnoxious way possible. “Can't you make stuff with your powers?”

Might frowned. “I expected this from him,” he said, pointing to King Monkey. “But you? Chat Noir, we work together practically every day. I'm kind of disappointed in you.”

Chat Noir tilted his head. “So, is that a no on the food?”

“Mightillustrator can't make edibles,” Ladybug said, approaching the group.

“Hey, look who showed up!” Rena cheered. “Where were you?”

“Talking with Mayor Bourgeois,” Ladybug said, a frown on her face. “Apparently we have differing ideas on whether or not 'Queen Bee' should be a representative among us.”

Mightillustrator made a face. “That's gonna be a no from me,” he said.

“I've informed Mayor Bourgeois that I have no intention of lending the Bee miraculous to Chloe after her stunt as Miracle Queen,” she said. “He's not happy with it, but he'll have to accept it.”

“Let's not talk about Chloe right now,” Might said, opening his bag. “It'll ruin the food.”

Ryuko frowned. “I'm hesitant about leaving Paris,” she said. “Wouldn't we be leaving the city defenseless?”

“Don't worry,” Ladybug assured her. “Once we're finished, Bunnix will use her powers to send us back to the exact moment we left. That way we can be in two places at once!”

Chat Noir looked around and the group. “Why isn't Multimouse with us?”

“Oh!” Ladybug gave a little laugh that sounded somewhat forced. “She denied the offer.”

“Oh, that's sad,” Rena Rouge said. “I was looking forward to meeting 'the most elusive superhero of Paris'-that's the title of the article I wro-that I read about her on the Ladyblog, by the way.”

“Well!” Ladybug clapped her hands. “Are we ready to leave? Everyone set?”

“Just waiting for Verse,” Bunnix said. Might raised an eyebrow, and she coughed. “Reverser,” she corrected.

~oOo~

Reverser and his glider hung over the balcony on the airport's second floor, looking down at the traffic of people. The monochrome hero sat on his magic paper airplane, journal open, swinging his legs over the void.

“Hey.”

Mightillustrator leaned over the balcony, holding a brown paper bag. “Mind if I join you?”

Reverser didn't say anything, but scooted over to one side of the glider. Mightillustrator hopped over the balcony and sat cross-legged next to his partner.

“Here,” the artist superhero said, pulling out a plastic cup of ice cream and a spoon. “Chocolate and vanilla. Reminded me of you.”

“Is this Andre's?”

Mightillustrator laughed. “No, it's airport ice cream. Not as great and a hell of a lot more expensive. But, no romantic strings attached.”

Reverser smiled and accepted the ice cream. “Thanks.”

Mightillustrator pulled out another bowl-Neopolitan with colorful sprinkles. “Something on your mind?” He asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean you get really quiet and less snarky when something's worrying you,” Might said.

Reverser swirled the top of his ice cream around with a spoon. “I'm worried about messing up,” he said.

Might raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, even though I've been a hero for a little less than a year, I've never actually worked with the other superheroes,” he said, gesturing to the group below them. “Not to mention the whole 'talking to international leaders to represent the existence of superheroes' thing has me on edge. What if I'm not good enough?”

“You're a hero,” Might said. “Of course you're good enough.”

“But what if I make a mistake and cost us everything?” Reverser gestured out towards the rest of the group. “Maybe it's better if I stay behind.”

Mightillustrator knew Reverser better than anyone else. He knew the confident, somewhat arrogant persona that the hero presented in battle. Reverser thrived off of banter and friendly competition.

He also knew the quiet and shy side of Reverser, when he let his hero persona fall and the boy underneath the hood peek through. He knew the side that still didn't believe he was really a hero, the side that responded to honesty and reassurance.

Mightillustrator was very aware that he had fallen for both sides of him.

“You know,” he said, leaning back and looking up at the tall glass ceiling. “On my first actual mission with Ladybug and Chat Noir, I accidentally erased Ladybug's lucky charm.”

Reverser stared at him. “No,” he whispered, disbelievingly.

“I did! I was trying to erase a rope or something, but I tripped over Chat Noir and-” Might made a swiping movement with his arm. “Her Lucky Charm was gone. She had to run away, detransform, _re_ transform, and only then were we able to catch the Akuma.”

“Oh no,” Reverser said, laughing.

“The worst part? This was supposed to be my big superhero debut! It was televised by the news! Everyone in the city saw me screw up. Live. On television.”

“I...I think I remember seeing that,” Reverser admitted, a wide grin spreading across his face. “What was that, two years ago?”

“Just about. What I'm trying to say is that mistakes will happen,” Might said. “It's inevitable. Sometimes it's even embarrassing.”

“Is this supposed to make me feel better?”

“But!” Might pointed at Reverser. “It's okay to make mistakes,” he continued. “Because you're not the only one on the battlefield. You've got people with you that you can count on. And they'll trust _you_ to support them when they need help.”

Reverser smiled.

“And no matter _what_ happens, even if the worst comes to worst-” Might put a hand on Reverser's shoulder. “-you can always count on me.”

The clamor of voices and sounds from below seemed to melt away into the background, a mindless noise in the back of his head, insignificant in the face of what was in front of him now-his future, his abilities, his friends.

Reverser leaned forward, elbows on his knees, looking out at the group of superheroes below. Chat Noir and Carapace were holding Rena Rouge by the arms while Ladybug was making quick hand motions to a group of reporters and escorting them away.

“Thanks,” he said. “That's nice.”

~oOo~

“Look who finally showed up,” King Monkey said as Reverser and Mightillustrator approached.

Bunnix grinned. “You missed Rena Rouge trying to gut a reporter with her flute,” she teased.

“It's a viable weapon!” Rena insisted. “And I _will_ fight anyone who says otherwise!”

“Well, we're all here,” Ladybug said, clapping her hands. “Once this is done, Bunnix will place a burrow to this exact location, alright?”

“Got it!” The group chorused. Bunnix gave a thumbs up.

“Alright! Then lets-”

There was a whirring sound, and a blue circle materialized in the air. The burrow appeared among the crowd of people, who stepped away from it with murmurs and various looks of interest and suspicion.

“Dude,” Carapace said. “Does that mean we're gonna see ourselves from the future? Cool.”

“No.” Bunnix stepped back, hand on her umbrella. “This isn't right. It's too risky to have two of a person in the same place, I was planning to make the burrow to point _after_ we left. So why....?”

A paper airplane flew through the portal, aiming for Chat Noir's head.

“Whoah!” He flipped backwards, the airplane striking the chair behind him and dissipating.

Reverser stepped through the portal, eyes cold. Mightillustrator followed.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Ladybug said.

Neither one answered.

“Anyone else getting a feeling of Deja Vu right now?” The present Mightillustrator joked nervously, glancing around at the group of superheroes. “No? Just me?”

“Chat Noir,” The new Might said, extending a hand. “Your ring.”

“What?” Chat Noir stepped backwards, protectively curling his hand against his chest. “What's with you two?”

“I won't ask again.”

Ladybug stepped between the two parties, yo-yo at the ready. “They've been akumatized,” she hissed.

The other Reverser laughed, a cruel, cold sound that made present Reverser's skin crawl. “Close,” he said. “You're close. But no. _We're_ not the ones who were akumatized.”

“Then who-”

A yo-yo spun out of the portal, wrapping around Ladybug's neck.

“Ladybug!”

Ladybug was pulled forward, into the arms of a second Ladybug.

“Gah-” the present Ladybug collapsed as a swift kick to the back of her legs sent her sprawling onto the ground.

“Nobody move.”

The superheroes froze as new Reverser pointed an airplane at present Ladybug's head.

“Thunder Dragon!” Ryuko spat, her body suddenly sparking with electricity.

“Ladybug,” Chat Noir breathed, making a move to step forward. “Why-”

“Don't move!” New Mightillustrator snapped. With a few quick lines, a buzzsaw formed above his head, whirring menacingly.

Other people had begun to take notice now, whispers humming through the air, creating a nervous energy. Silently, reporters began to move in, cameras pointing, people staring.

The new Ladybug pressed her knee against present Ladybug's back. “I'm not Ladybug to you,” she said. Her head lifted, revealing pools of black that stretched across her entire eye. “I'm Dark Lady.”

_She's the Akuma._

“Chat Noir,” Dark Lady said. “Give me your miraculous or she dies.” She tightened her grip on the yo-yo, and Ladybug gasped, keeling over.

Present Reverser and Mightillustrator stepped in front of Dark Lady and their other selves. “That's not going to happen,” Reverser said.

Dark Lady gave an unamused glance at the two heroes. “Evillustrator. Revisionist. Take care of them.”

The two other versions of Might and Reverser stepped forward. The other heroes instantly took defensive positions. Dark Lady pressed her knee into the small of Ladybug's back, causing the heroine to cry out in pain.

“Come on, guys,” King Monkey said. “There's only three of them and, uh...one, two...eleven of us!”

“Wait,” Bunnix said. “The burrow's still open. They could have who knows how many allies on the other side.”

“We can't just let Ladybug die!” Rena Rouge argued.

At that moment, another figure stepped out of the burrow, carrying a blue umbrella and looking at them all with an expression similar to a nine-year-old with a box of matches and an ant pile.

Bunnix paled as she stared at her other self. “Pegasus,” she hissed. “Take Chat Noir and get him somewhere safe.”

“What?”

“No!” Chat Noir said. “I'm staying!”

“If you stay, we lose!” Bunnix yelled. “They want you, so you need to get out of here, now!”

Evillustrator leapt forward.

“Shelter!” Carapace slammed his shield on the ground, and a semi-circle surrounded the heroes just as a buzzsaw slammed into the magic forcefield, creating a spray of green sparks.

“Second Chance!” Viperion hissed, grabbing his bracelet and twisting it.

“Get to safety!” Reverser yelled at the crowd. The civilians around them began to scatter, screaming.

The akumatized Ladybug glanced at the new Bunnix. “So,” she drawled. “What do you plan to do?”

The new Bunnix giggled, a high pitched sound that was almost demonic with how out of place it felt among the chaos and tension. “There's too much order in the timeline,” she said, stretching. “I wanna see how far I can pull the strings before it breaks.”

Dark Lady turned to Revisionist. “How long is your reversion going to last?”

“Her responsibility is a large part of her psyche,” Revisionist answered cooly, turning to the still giggling Bunnix. “I'd recommend if you have any plans, you do them in the next 48 hours.”

The reversed Bunnix jumped, clapping her hands excitedly. “Then there's no time to lose!” She sang, extending her arm into the sky. “Burrow!”

“No!” Bunnix yelled, jumping forward. Viperion grabbed her around the waist as Evillustrator and Revisionist turned their eyes to her.

“No!” The snake hero yelled. “They'll get you if you go out there!”

A humanoid blob of purple energy with a device strapped on their arm stepped out of the Burrow. “Hello,” Oblivio hissed menacingly. “Now, wouldn't you all be happier if you all just _forgot_ I was here?”

Rena Rouge let out a horrified gasp.

Whatever crowd may have remained began to scatter. Oblivio laughed, chasing after them. “Don't run,” they taunted. “It's better if you don't have to know why!”

Reversed Bunnix twirled, laughing gleefully. “Now that's more like it!” She yelled.

Without warning, Dark Lady released Ladybug and reached out towards reversed Bunnix, who leapt out of the way. “Ah-ah-ah,” the time heroine tutted, wagging a finger in front of the akumatized hero. “I'm not letting you take control of me.”

“Ladybug!” Chat Noir yelled. “Get out of there!”

Several things happened at that moment. Carapace dropped the Shelter and reached out his hand. Ladybug began to run. Dark Lady lunged for her, but a bolt of lighting from Ryuko sent her sprawling backwards.

“Uproar!” King Monkey yelled, throwing a squeaky toy at Evillustrator.

Evillustrator jumped back, drawing cover for himself. Mightillustrator used that moment to erase the buzzsaw above their heads.

Revisionist summoned a paper airplane and threw it at the hero. “Reversion!”

Ladybug cried out as the airplane hit her squarely in the back and she fell to the ground.

Revisionist grinned. “Gotcha.”

Ladybug's body shimmered and collapsed into orange mist as the mirage faded, revealing the real Ladybug as she stumbled into Rena Rouge and Carapace's arms.

“Pegasus!” Bunnix yelled.

“Voyage!”

Evillustrator ran forward. Dark Lady screamed in rage. Revisionist threw an airplane. Reversed Bunnix was still laughing.

A circle surrounded the heroes with a flash of blue light and they were gone.


	4. Reverser, the Hero

_Approximately One Year before the Present Day_

  
  


Marc flopped on his bed, shoving his face into the pillow.

Today was exhausting, and thank _god_ it was over.

For starters, he had gone to the park to meet with Nathaniel, and that had ended in a complete disaster and a torn notebook.

Then he had gotten akumatized, which had taken hours out of his day and probably inconvenienced a lot of people. He hadn't heard anything about his akumatized self other than the live stream that the TV had been doing during the fight. The fact that there was nothing else other than that was both reassuring and extremely nerve-wracking. On one hand, nothing could be traced back to him, to his real identity. On the other hand...why wasn't it at least being talked about? Maybe no news was good news.

Mightillustrator had carried him back to school-Mightillustrator! The superhero! A celebrity of Paris! And Marc had been too caught up in being sorry for himself to even care. He could have at least said something. Mightillustrator probably thought he was lame now, too.

But Nathaniel had apologized, and they’d even exchanged phone numbers. The artist seemed like he meant it. He’d even promised to make it up to him sometime. That was a ray of sunshine in his otherwise disastrous day.

And then he’d come home and realized his notebook had become all weird.

Marc leaned over to grab the backpack leaning against his bed. He pulled out the journal and rolled over onto his back, holding it up to the light.

From the outside it looked fine-a simple black cover and white pages. But one the inside-it still looked like paper, but the texture was strange and unnatural, and it felt slightly warm to the touch.

Marc skimmed through the pages, eyes flitting over familiar sentences in neat handwriting. Writing a love story about Ladybug and Mightillustrator seemed awkward, now that he’d met them in person. It felt different seeing them in real life rather than through the screen of his phone or on the billboards around the city.

One of the papers caught his eye and he froze, his book partly open.

In the middle of the journal, where the binding was most exposed, was a long, black and white tear down the page. It seemed to pulse and flow with an unnatural light, as though it wasn’t a part of reality itself.

Cautiously, Marc set the book down on the bed and leaned over it. The line wasn’t exactly doing anything. It was just...there. With careful fingers, he reached out to touch the page.

And everything turned black and white.

“Ah!”

Marc flung the book off of his bed. It smacked against the wall and hovered, inches above the floor, pages unfolding out and out and out until he had a massive glider taking up most of his bedroom floor.

Reverser’s glider.

Slowly, Marc slid off the bed, any thoughts of sleep vanished from his mind. He looked down at his feet and saw black and white legs. His hands. He had Reverser’s hands. Marc grabbed at his hoodie. Sure enough, his red hoodie had been replaced with a large triangular one.

He was wearing Reverser's clothes.

Marc panicked.

“Oh shit oh shit oh shit-It’s okay, it’s okay. This is fine. This is normal. This is nOT NORMAL-deep breaths, just breathe, you’re okay.”

No one was home. At least he didn't have to explain this. Was he an Akuma? No, there was no voice in his head, no large negative feelings besides the panic he was feeling right now.

Mightillustrator. Hadn’t he heard something about Mightillustrator, in an interview or something a few months back? The hero had said that he had used to be an Akuma, but something happened and his powers had remained and now he was a hero-

Wait.

“Am I a hero now?”

Marc stared at the glider.

He began to panic again.

“No, no no no I can’t be a hero, I’ve got-I’ve got schoolwork.”

Somewhere in the distance an alarm began to blare. An Akuma attack was happening nearby.

“I can’t be a hero.”

The heroes would be there.

“I can’t do this.”

Mightillustrator could give him answers. Probably.

Reverser gritted his teeth. “This is the worst idea!” He opened his bedroom window and was immediately struck with his first obstacle.

The glider wouldn’t fit through his window.

Reverser turned to the object still hovering ominously in his room, taking up most of his space. It was paper. Paper folds, right?

He reached out his hand, but before he could touch it, the glider began to fold, triangles collapsing in on itself until a paper book fell into Reverser’s hand. Oh. Useful. And...unexpected.

He flipped to the torn page. The tear in the book was still there, but the rip had now taken on the appearance of a dazzling rainbow, as though all the color in his body had been trapped in that small seam. If touching the seam made him Reverser, maybe touching it again would turn him back to normal. He could just detransform and pretend none of this had ever happened.

No. He needed answers.

Reverser threw the book out the window and jumped after it.

  
  


~oOo~

  
  


Pros and cons of now being a hero (maybe)

Pros:

.You can do cool magic stuff probably (untested)

.Flying is _super fucking incredible_

Cons:

.Responsibility

.Those scary shambling creatures all over the city are definitely going to try and kill you.

Reverser halted in the air, staring at the hundreds of animal-like shadows that were darting through the streets. The night sky made it hard to track them as they moved from building to building, covering the ground in an inky substance that seemed to pull anything that came into contact with it down. Reverser watched in horror as street lamps and hastily abandoned cars seemed to sink into nothingness.

These creatures were probably made by an Akuma. What kind of nightmare monster could make creatures as strong as this?

He could see people running, hundreds of civilians clambering over fences and cars to escape the nightmarish creatures that chased them down. If he were Marc, he would probably be running, too.

The sirens were louder, deafening in their close proximity. There were screams and cries in the distance as civilians ran from the rapidly spreading void.

Where were the heroes?

“Help!”

Reverser saw a middle-aged woman clinging to the side of a building as it slunk into the ground at a steep angle. The surrounding area was completely covered in darkness.

The heroes would be here soon, right?

“Somebody!”

Reverser glanced around, searching. There were no heroes in sight, only the insistent drone of the siren and the screams of terror all around him.

The lady glanced around, panicking, looking for something else to leap onto. There was a bus, nearly swallowed by the darkness, the closest thing to her. The woman got to her feet and began to run.

Reverser knew before she jumped that she wouldn't make it.

On instinct he leaned forward, the glider arcing into a dive as the woman leapt, screaming as she fell short and began to plummet-

“I’ve got you!” Reverser grabbed the woman’s arm, pulling her up onto the glider. She clung to his side, gasping.

“What-how-” she stuttered.

“Don't worry,” Reverser said. _Do worry,_ his anxiety said. “You're safe now.” He circled down to the street and helped her catch her footing on solid ground.

“Thank you,” she said, still clutching his hand in a grip strong enough to break his fingers. “Who are you?”

Reverser felt his throat go dry. “Uh...well…”

A growl cut off his train of thought. The woman’s eyes grew wide, and she let go of his hand, bolting away. Reverser turned to see one of the shadow creatures staring directly at him with dull red eyes.

“Shit.”

The creature stalked forward, trailing an abyss behind it. Reverser backed away. "St-stay back," he warned, raising his arm. "I've got magic...something."

To his surprise, a paper airplane materialized in his hand. The creature growled, crouching.

“Uh...take this!”

Reverser threw the airplane. It hit the creature in the face and bounced off, falling to the ground and dissipating.

Shit.

“No no no,” Reverser said, stumbling backwards as the creature lunged forward, closing the distance in sudden and terrifying speed. He tripped and hit the ground as the creature leapt, jaws open and snarling. “Wait-”

A sudden rush of wind sped through the air, hundreds of ladybugs scattering across the ground-and the creature was gone.

The buildings and streets were back to normal. Slowly, the alarm faded away, replaced with cheering as civilians returned to their now undamaged cars and homes.

Reverser sat in the middle of the street, mind reeling.

And then he saw them.

In the moonlight, they were little more than picturesque silhouettes, but he saw them. Ladybug swung through the sky, followed by Chat Noir as he leapt from building to building. Mightillustrator followed behind, wings outstretched, slowing-wait, was he landing?

Reverser scrambled to his feet. On instinct he stretched out his hand and the glider obeyed his mental command, floating to his side. He leapt on, following the elusive hero as Mightillustrator jumped from building to building, pausing to stand under a street light and make a few sketches. A broken window on the other side of the street disappeared and then reappeared, complete and brand-new.

“Thank you, dear,” an old woman called from the house’s porch. Reverser froze and ducked into the shadows. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to fix it this month, since Henry’s medication has gotten so expensive.”

“It was no trouble,” Mightillustrator said with a wave of his hand. “Take care of yourself, miss.”

“You too,” the lady replied, before hobbling back inside and shutting the door.

So that’s what the artistic hero did in his spare time. Reverser smiled. The job of a hero seemed to be more than just fighting Akumas when they showed up. That was good to know. Maybe he could be a hero without actually fighting.

Reverser glanced back at Mightillustrator to see the artist staring directly at him.

His head blanked, every question that he had been meaning to ask dying in the back of his throat. Under the street lamp, Mightillustrator's hair seemed to glow a brilliant red, almost to an otherworldly hue. His wings were slightly unfolded, large and white, making him seem more intimidating despite his smaller and more elegant stature.

"You're..." Mightillustrator stepped forward. "You're a hero."

"Please no," Reverser said, raising his hands up.

The two faced each other, frozen in a sudden and awkward pause.

Something in Mightillustrator's ear flashed blue, and he put a hand to his ear. "Yeah? Yeah, I'm ok. Be there in a sec." He turned to Reverser. "Sorry, we'll talk later."

"Wait! I need to-" but Mightillustrator had already taken off, vanishing into the night sky.

~oOo~

"I'll admit, this 'Nightmare Animan' took me by surprise," Chat Noir was saying as Mightillustrator landed. "Do you think we should recommend Mr. Cesaire for some anger management therapy? He really gave me a run for one of my nine lives."

"Might," Ladybug said, acknowledging his arrival. "What took you so long?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Chat Noir said. "Or an old man with no pants on."

Mightillustrator took a deep breath. "I saw something much more unexpected."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art for Nightmare Animan (Beasts):  
> https://dragonchris.tumblr.com/post/628268113461428224/art-from-chapter-four-of-miracles-tales-of


	5. The War Begins

A portal opened up over the Pont des Arts bridge, spinning as it grew larger and larger. The hundreds of locks on the bridge began to rattle and shake as the wind picked up.

Ladybug and her group of heroes fell out of the portal and onto the ground in a professional and dignified manner, with a bunch of yelling and tripping over everyone else.

“M'Lady!” Chat Noir sat up and ran to Ladybug's side. She rolled away from the rest of the group, coughing.

“I'm okay,” Ladybug gasped between heaving breaths. “Just...give me a second.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Hawkmoth can't control more than one Akuma at once unless he's in his Scarlet form. Do you think-”

“Oblivio wasn't colored red, and the other Might, Reverser, and Ladybug were identical to our own heroes-sans Dark Lady's sclera. There's a high possibility that the Akumas are not under his control.”

“That doesn't really give me confidence, dude.”

“Everyone quiet.” Bunnix held out her hand. “Just...I need some time to think.”

Chat Noir helped Ladybug sit up. “How are you feeling?” He asked.

“Not great,” Ladybug responded. “She almost crushed my windpipe.” She turned to smile at Chat Noir, but her smile quickly faded, replaced with horror as her eyes fixated on something behind him.

“Guys?” Rena Rouge's voice was shaking. “This is bad.”

The sky was quickly turning black with storm clouds, too quickly to be created by natural means. Frost began to cover another part of town in ice and snow, while the windows of a nearby apartment burst and began to flood the surrounding area.

“How many Akumas can she bring?” Viperion asked.

Bunnix clenched her fists. “All of them,” she whispered. “Every Akuma from your past and future, theoretically.”

“How are we going to fight them all?”

“Can...can we fight them all?”

“You're not.” Bunnix stood up. “If that Bunnix is taking them from this timeline, then I can return them to the exact moment they left and keep the timelines intact. As long as nothing about them changes we can avoid a paradox, so I need you to restrict them, restrain them, but _don't deakumatize them_ , got it?”

“Easier said than done,” Ryuko grumbled, crossing her arms.

“It's the only way,” Bunnix said.

Chat Noir stood up, offering a hand to Ladybug. “Alright, team,” he said. “Let's do this.”

Ladybug accepted Chat Noir's help and turned to face the group. “Those of you who used your powers, recharge and come back as fast as you can,” she said. “I know this looks bad, but it's time to do our jobs. I have faith in all of you.”

Mightillustrator elbowed Reverser. “Guess we'll be late for our flight,” he joked.

“I don't think showing up late to 'international talks about your own legality' is going to put us in a good light,” Reverser said. “But we don't really have a choice.”

Carapace, Viperion, King Monkey, Rena Rouge, and Pegasus began to sprint towards the nearby buildings as their miraculous beeped warning signals. Ryuko, Bunnix, Chat Noir, Ladybug, Reverser, and Mightillustrator stayed put.

Bunnix hopped onto the railing of the bridge, scanning the horizon. “I'll have to prioritize Akumas from the future until we can find the reversed future me,” she muttered, shoulder's already sagging wearily with the thought of how much effort that would take.

“Can't you just use multiple versions of yourself?” Mightillustrator asked.

“Just having two of me in the same timeline is dangerous,” Bunnix said. “That'd be a lot more of a risk than I'm willing to take right now.”

Reverser frowned. “What about your other self? She's not exactly cautious.”

Bunnix tapped her chin. “We can assume that Rever-sorry, Revisionist switched her sense of responsibility, which means the reversion will only last for a limited time. Assuming she still thinks like me, this Bunnix would probably try to fit as much chaos into that specific time frame, instead of trying to go back in time.”

“This is incredibly confusing,” Chat Noir said, leaning against the bridge. “I'm just gonna take your word for it.”

“Ryuko, what do you think?” Ladybug asked.

The stoic heroine put a hand over her rapier, her body still charged with electric energy. “I think the longer we hesitate, the worse this is going to get.”

“Should we split up?” Reverser asked. “If I can get to this reversed Bunnix, I can undo Revisionist's magic.”

Ladybug nodded. “Chat Noir, go with him.” She opened her yo-yo to its technological form and started texting. “I'll let the rest of the group know. Since you're also dealing with someone who has a very dangerous ability, I'll send Viperion and King Monkey with you. Rena Rouge, too, just in case.”

“I'll go, too,” Might said.

“No.” Ladybug shook her head. “I'll need you with me. Ryuko, Carapace, and Pegasus will be coming with us to track down Dark Lady. Might, I need you for Revisionist and Evillustrator. You're more familiar with their attack styles than anyone else.”

Chat Noir hesitated. “I don't like that your team has less heroes,” he said. “Are you sure I shouldn't help Ladybug?”

Ryuko sighed. “Dark Lady is after you specifically,” she said. “By keeping our opponents away from their primary goal we're offering ourselves a tactical advantage.”

“Right.” Chat Noir grimaced. “It's just, remember what Reverser told us a month ago?”

Ladybug sighed. “What Reverser and Might overheard back then doesn't matter. You don't have to look out for me. At the end of the day, we have a job to do. Nothing that an Akuma says can change that.”

Mightillustrator tapped Reverser's shoulder and stepped away from the group. Reverser followed him a few paces away.

“You doing okay?” Might asked.

Reverser nodded. “I'm a little panicked, but I'll be fine. Paris is our first priority.”

“Alright, good,” Mightillustrator said.

Reverser narrowed his eyes. “You seem off,” he said.

Might gave a short laugh, hugging his arms to his chest like he was trying to hide behind himself. “Is it that obvious?”

Reverser felt a twinge of sympathy for his friend's fear. He stepped forward a little, close enough to be just a bit too much into the other's space. He could hear Might's breath stutter in his throat. “We'll get through this,” he said, placing his arms awkwardly around the other's shoulders in the most subjective definition of a hug that he could make.

“Are....are we ever going to talk about what happened?” Might asked. Reverser stiffened.

“I said-”

“I know what you said,” Might responded quickly, his eyes still trained on Reverser's shoulder. “But I can't stop thinking about it. And I know how you feel, but...”

“Might!” Ladybug's sudden, sharp voice made the two of them jump apart. “We're heading out!”

Might sighed. “Be right there!” He shouted.

“Hey,” Reverser said, placing a hand on Might's shoulder. “We can...we'll...talk about it. Later. After...after we win, okay?”

Might nodded. “Okay.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

“Great.”

“Neato.”

“Cool.”

“Might!” Ladybug called again. “We're going!”

Might began to walk away. “See you later,” he called back. “Don't miss me too badly!”

“I won't,” Reverser called back.

Might gave a cheeky grin and turned away. As he did, his smile turned to something more honest and wistful.

“Are you okay?” Chat Noir asked as he approached. “You've got this 'honest and wistful' look on your face and it's kinda freaking me out-”

“Shut up,” Might said. “You're supposed to be over with Bunnix.”

“I just had to give M'Lady a final farewell,” Chat Noir said with an extravagant and elegant bow to the heroine. She gave him an unamused glance. “And my farewell is done. See ya!”

Ryuko smirked a little, but another glance at the horizon darkened her mood once again. “I'll try and get an aerial view of Dark Lady,” she said, leaping away with a flash of light and a rumble of thunder.

“Come with me,” Bunnix said to Reverser and Chat Noir. “We're going rabbit hunting.”

Bunnix leapt away, Reverser and Chat Noir following after her.

Reverser glanced back. He wasn't sure why.

Might was watching him go.


	6. Reverser and his Partner

_Approximately One Year before the Present Day_

Marc sat on the edge of his bed, headphones in his ears as he wrote.

He couldn't sleep anymore. Not now, not until he'd recorded everything that had just happened in a new, non-magical notebook.

He wrote about his transformation, his feelings, Mightillustrator, everything that came to his mind. The music in his headphones pushed the rest of the world away, helped him focus, kept everything that was around him out of his head-so much so that it was only when the weight on his bed shifted that Marc realized someone else was in his room.

In the way that a really cool and composed person does, Marc let out a high-pitched scream and threw his book at the artist hero.

Mightillustrator caught the book in one hand, setting it down on the bed.

“You! How-how did you get in!?” Marc pulled his headphones down to his neck.

“The window.”

Marc turned to see that his window was gone, completely erased from existence. He made several squeaking and spluttering noises, none of which managed to form into verbal statements.

Mightillustrator shrugged. “You didn't answer when I knocked,” he said, tapping the headphones that had fallen out of Marc's ears.

"You can't just sneak into my room like that!" Marc placed a hand over his rapidly beating heart. "God, I thought I was going to die."

"I wasn't sneaking. Besides, I said we'd talk later."

Oh.

Marc let his hand fall. "Right, my...transformation.” He snuck a glance at Might through the corner of his eye. The hero was looking directly at him, but his hands were fidgeting with a pen-his miraculous, the news said, though it wasn't actually a miraculous they just didn't know what to call it- “Are Ladybug and Chat Noir...where...?” Marc let the sudden thought trail away.

“They're still on patrol,” Mightillustrator explained. “Ladybug said I should...do this on my own.” His eyes flicked away.

“So,” Marc said, but wasn't sure where to go from that point.

“You're a hero,” Might said.

“I don't think so.”

“You're...probably a hero,” Might corrected. “I'm guessing you don't know what you are. That's okay. I don't really know what I am, if I'm being honest.”

Marc let out a shaky laugh. “Okay,” he said. “What do you know?”

Might stood up. “Well, I could sit around and spout exposition at you, or...” he pointed to the open window. “We could go for a test run and see how your powers work.”

Marc hesitated. “I don't think I can,” he muttered. “I tried using my powers on those...beasts, and it did nothing. I'm not sure if I even have powers, or...I don't know.”

“No one knows anything,” Mightillustrator said, a light glinting in his eyes. “That's what makes this interesting!”

Marc had to admit, the energy that Might had was just a little bit infectious.

He'd been ready to give up Reverser completely, but now, with Mightillustrator smiling like this, a little inkling of hope started to awaken.

“Yeah,” Marc said, nodding and picking up his book, his _miraculous_. “Okay, let's go.”

 _That's still technically not a miraculous_ , his brain helpfully reminded him. _It's just a magic book._

Might began sketching on his tablet, walking backwards until he was standing in the window. With a flash of light, two wings appeared, filling out the space behind him. He gave a wink, leaned back, and fell.

Okay, so rule number one about Might: he was a bit of a showoff. Marc had already guessed that.

He leaned out the window, throwing his book into the air and hoping he wouldn't embarrass himself.

Thankfully, the book began to unfold and spin, and paper began to encase Marc's limbs and face. Reverser stepped back out onto his glider, rising to where Mightillustrator was hovering.

Might tried to give an appreciative whistle, but his lips were too dry so he just kinda blew air out of his lips nervously.

“Not bad,” he said, chuckling a little. “I gotta admit, you're a lot different from the Reverser we had to fight.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Akuma Reverser was...forgive me-kind of cocky and arrogant,” Might said, landing on a nearby roof. “From what I've seen of you, you're more of the shy and introverted type.”

A spark of annoyance flickered across Reverser's face, and Might took a quick step backwards. “Of course, there's also a thing where a hero's personality can change when they transform so _hey maybe you could back up a little_ -”

“Oh.” Reverser stopped. “Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me.”

Might took a deep breath. “That would be your hero personality,” he said. “Apparently you're a lot bolder than you realize.”

Reverser rubbed his toe against the side of his glider. “Sorry.”

“Don't apologize,” Might said. “A hero persona will help you keep your identity safe. No one's gonna guess that a bold, brave superhero is actually a wallflower in real life.”

“But Hawkmoth already knows who I am.”

A wide smile spread across Might's face. “That's one of the cool things of being a...post-Akuma hero. He doesn't.”

“What?”

“It's part of the process. When I was deakumatized, everyone except for Ladybug and Chat Noir forgot _everything_ about my villain self. It was the weirdest night I've ever had.”

“But-what about cameras-”

“Oh, there was still footage. But nothing that could be traced back to my identity,” Mightillustrator said with an almost giddy laugh. “Ladybug thinks it has something to do with her power of creation, like, that it somehow extends to making heroes or something.”

“That's a pretty strange theory,” Reverser said.

“It's what we have.”

Reverser guessed he could concede that point. “Well, you said you weren't just gonna stand here and spout exposition at me so...”

“Right!” Might clapped his hands together decisively. “Let's go!” He took off with a flap of his wings, and Reverser followed after.

“By the way, you _are_ going to fix my window, right?”

“...”

“Mightillustrator!”

“I'm joking! Of course I'll fix it!”

~oOo~

Reverser kept pace with Mightillustrator as they soared over the Paris streets. The sky above them was clear and the moon was full, an ideal night for Mightillustrator and a picturesque night for Reverser.

"Woah," Reverser said, staring down at the multicolored lights beneath them. "Paris looks...different from up here."

"You scared of heights?" Might responded.

Reverser crouched lower to the glider. "No, not really," he said. "What about you?"

"Terrified," The artist hero said with a grin. "But when I'm in my hero form, it's not as bad. Y'know, hero personas and all that."

“Right.”

They circled down towards the Place des Vosges park, where the Ladybug and Chat Noir statue stretched up into the sky.

“Man,” Mightillustrator said as they landed at the base. “I'm kinda jealous.”

“Of the statue?”

“I mean it'd be cool to have a big metal statue of yourself in one of the oldest squares in Paris, don't you think?”

Reverser looked up at the statue. “I couldn't even begin to imagine it,” he said. “Why are we here, anyway?”

Mightillustrator turned to Reverser and spread his arms open. “I want you to reverse me,” he said.

“What?”

“You've got to learn how to make your powers work, right? So I figured if we start small then we can at least figure out how it works. And if something goes wrong we'll call Ladybug and she'll be reminded why she doesn't let me do things on my own.”

“Why doesn't she-”

“I have no impulse control. Reverse me!”

“What do I do though? Do, I, do I just throw the airplane?” Reverser summoned an airplane in his hands, fidgeting with the wings.

“Try something small,” Mightillustrator said. “Like, something that won't affect my whole life if we can't change it back.”

“Okay,” Reverser said, letting the airplane disintegrate in his hands as he started pacing. “Like what?”

“Uhhh...reverse my strength? Miraculous heroes get better strength and agility but we Akuma heroes kinda get the short stick on that-still stronger than the average person, but not to the superhuman degree that Ladybug and Chat Noir are.”

“But in that case, your strength would be a matter of perspective,” Reverser said. “I don't know how that would work and if it backfired...hey, how you feel about cilantro?”

“Tastes like soap,” Might deadpanned.

“Traitor,” Reverser shot back. “Well, what if I reversed that?”

Might raised an eyebrow. “That. Is an _incredible_ idea and I am all for it.”

“Alright, so draw some cilantro and we can get testing!”

Might winced. “Ooh. That's...I actually can't do that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can't make edibles or sentient creatures,” Mightillustrator said. “My powers don't work like that.”

“Huh.”

One quick trip to the store later, Mightillustrator and Reverser were back in the park with a fresh bundle of cilantro. Reverser waved away some curious night bugs, feeling more at ease than he had been the whole day.

Even when the cashier had given him a very strange look-which would have made Marc want to hide under a bridge for three days-Reverser hadn't felt any kind of fear or anxiety. He felt like he didn't have to hide himself for once. It was a new feeling, somewhat terrifying, but not completely unwanted. He felt...comfortable as Reverser.

“I mean, it sucks that you can't make food with your powers, but at least you can draw money _for_ food,” Reverser said, handing the bundle to Might.

“Yeah, I'm actually not supposed to do that, so, uh...don't tell Ladybug, okay?”

Reverser sighed. “Alright, let's see if this works.” He summoned an airplane in his hands.

Mightillustrator spread out his arms. “If this doesn't work and I somehow die make sure you tell people I was cooler than I actually am.”

Reverser laughed. “I'll try.” He threw the paper airplane.

Might flinched a little, but, to his credit, didn't move out of the way. The airplane hit him in the shoulder and disappeared.

“Okay,” Mightillustrator said, after a long second. “I don't feel any different.”

“Try the cilantro.”

“Really? _My_ first plan was going to be to lick rocks,” Might snarked with a grin. He plucked a leaf from the bundle and bit it experimentally.

Reverser waited.

“Nope,” Might said, spitting it out. “Still tastes like soap. You sure this isn't what cilantro just tastes like normally?”

“I'm sure,” Reverser said. “Why didn't it work?”

“Maybe because you didn't say 'Reversion',” Might suggested.

“What?”

“Well, you wouldn't remember, but every time you reversed someone you'd be like, 'from this to this, reversion!” and then throw the airplane. Maybe saying 'Reversion' has to do with it? Well, you'll know when you get it right. It's an instinct thing at first. Or, it was for me. Took me a month to figure out that I could draw wings.”

“Hmm...” Reverser tapped his hand with his chin. “I think you're onto something. I have to say what I'm reversing before I can...” something clicked in the back of Reverser's mind, something he couldn't place, like a confirmation from himself to himself.

“Let's try again,” Might said.

Reverser took his stance again, summoning the airplane. “From thinking cilantro tastes like soap to tasting cilantro like a normal human being-”

“Fuck you.”

“Reversion!”

This time, Might didn't flinch, only made a small 'oof' noise as the airplane hit him in the chest. “Take two,” he said, pulling out out another cilantro leaf. “Bon appetite.”

Reverser watching, grinning, as the moment Might popped the leaf in his mouth his eyebrows rose and he paused. “It's not soap,” he said, chewing thoughtfully. “It's not soap!” His brow dropped, and he looked Reverser dead in the eye. “It still tastes disgusting though.”

“You asshole!” There was no venom in his words, as Reverser was grinning from ear to ear. “It worked!”

“It worked! Yeah!”

“Should I reverse you back?”

“No!” Might said, pulling the cilantro to his chest like a mother holding a baby. “This is a whole new world for me, Reverser! I'm not ready to give it up so quickly.” He pressed a few buttons on his tablet, and it turned white. Reverser made a startled sound as he dropped the bundle into the tablet and it disappeared.

“What the fuck was that?”

“What? Oh, you mean the pocket dimension! Yeah, all our tools have one, along with a technology function. Your tool is supposed to be unbreakable.”

“Well, what do I have?”

“Your glider,” Might said. “But that's technically your miraculous, since destroying that will detransform you.

“Oh.” Reverser stretched out his hand, and the glider folded, turning into a book.

Might blinked. “That...that did not happen before,” he said.

“It's my old...journal,” Reverser said, opening the book and running a hand over the ink. “It's the only thing I have, so maybe it's my tool and my miraculous. There's gotta be something in the pages-ah, here it is!” He turned the book around to show Might how one of the pages had transformed into a phone screen.

Might stepped forward, examining the page adjacent to the screen. “'I soared across Paris, my yo-yo stretching across the horizon as I searched for Mightillustrator,'” he read. “'When I found him, he was-'”

Reverser snapped the book closed. “Don't read it!” He hissed.

“What? I've alre-I mean, it looks like an interesting story,” Might said, suddenly turning flustered.

Reverser hugged the book to his chest. “It's embarrassing,” he said. “It's not that great a story, either.”

“I'm gonna call bullshit on that,” Might said, putting his hands on his hips. “I...have not read your writing...but according to what that Kurtzberg boy told me, your writing is pretty incredible.”

Reverser looked up at him. “He said that?”

Might nodded. “He said he thinks you're a great writer, even if the ship was...” a pained smile stretched wide across his cheeks, conveying everything he needed to say.

Reverser slammed his head against the book cover. “Fuck me.”

Might bit back his first immediate response, instead choosing to smile comfortingly. “It's still a good read, though,” he said. “Apparently.”

“Hey there!”

Reverser jumped back as Chat Noir soared overhead and landed on the ground with a flourish and twirl of his baton. “Thought we'd check in on you two after a while.”

“It's good to see you two are getting along,” Ladybug's voice said. Reverser looked up to see her balanced on the statue of herself and Chat Noir.

“I think he has the makings of a superhero,” Mightillustrator said. “We all saw what he can do! He's a valuable ally.”

“He's also here and can be spoken to directly,” Reverser deadpanned. The heroes turned to him, and Reverser felt his face heat up. "I'm sorry....I meant..."

"I like him," Chat Noir said. "Smack down on Mightillustrator, way to go."

Might stuck out his tongue at Chat Noir.

Ladybug nodded. “Well, we could use the extra help. I trust your judgment of character, Might.” She hopped down onto the ground. “Reverser, will you join us as a hero and help us in our goal to defeat Hawkmoth?”

Reverser hesitated. Might gave him a thumbs up.

“I mean, it's better to try and fail than not try at all,” he muttered.

“That's the spirit!”

“No, I was quoting something. I'm legitimately terrified of failure,” Reverser said. “But I'll try.”

Ladybug smiled. “That's all we're asking. Mightillustrator, I'm teaming you up with Reverser. For now, you'll have joint patrols so you can show him the ropes. Sound good?”

Mightillustrator nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

Chat Noir's nose began to twitch, and he frowned. “Hey Might, why does it smell like you were eating soap?”

Mightillustrator snickered.

“From now on, you are Reverser,” Ladybug said, ignoring them and extending a hand to the monochrome figure. “Your miraculous will only respond to you, but if Hawkmoth learns who you are, you could endanger yourself and the people you love. You _must_ keep your identity a secret,”

Reverser was suddenly feeling less confident in becoming a hero.

“We will fight with you,” Ladybug continued. “And together I believe that we can defend Paris from this villain. Can I trust you?”

He glanced over to Mightillustrator and Chat Noir. Chat Noir nodded encouragingly. Might gave him a thumbs up and flashed a large smile. There was a piece of cilantro stuck in his teeth.

Fuck it. Reverser _was_ cocky and arrogant after all.

He shook Ladybug's hand. “You can trust me.”

Ladybug smiled. “In that case, welcome to the team, Reverser.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently cilantro is called coriander in France unless google is bullshitting me. I'm too tired to change it so...cilantro is now a thing in Miraculous Ladybug I guess.
> 
> EDIT: So I've been informed that cilantro and coriander are different parts of the same plant. This is music to my ears. For those of you who are wondering, cilantro does not taste like soap to me but I don't really like it unless it's with very specific foods.


	7. The Mad Hatter

“Run down the rabbit hole, run and be free! Hop! Leap! Skip! Sing!”

Reverser, Chat Noir, and Bunnix followed the distant sound of laughter and singing into the depths of Paris, which were becoming more like a twisted nightmare every second.

They'd been lucky. Just moments after the group had split from Ladybug's team, Viperion had caught sight of the rabbit villain, leaping across buildings, creating burrow after burrow and dropping Akumas into the streets, where they spread out like an infection, quickly capturing or transforming the nearby civilians.

Chat Noir pressed a hand to his earpiece. “Viperion, Rena Rouge, King Monkey. We're closing in on the target, are you nearby?”

“Ready and waiting,” Viperion's voice responded.

“On my way,” Rena Rouge said.

“Let's go!” King Monkey yelled a little too loudly.

“No, no, we're not going yet,” Reverser said. “We have the element of surprise. We shouldn't waste it.”

“Drink me, I'm poison! Drink me and dream! Hop! Leap! Skip! Sing!”

“That's not creepy at all,” Chat Noir whispered. “Sarcasm, by the way. This is definitely creepy.”

“The longer she runs free, the more unstable this timeline becomes,” Bunnix said, crouching beside Chat Noir.

“It's getting worse,” Reverser said, pointing along the canal in distance, where an ice cream monster trudged along the water's edge. His finger moved to a purple dragon soaring through the skies, to a skipping zombie-themed woman in the streets, to a silver swordswoman leaping across buildings.

“Shit,” Chat Noir hissed. “Do we all have visual on reversed Bunnix?”

A chorus of affirmation circled around their earpieces.

“Reverser,” Chat Noir said. “You take the first shot.”

“You refuse to take your duty seriously,” Reverser whispered, as a plane materialized in his fingers. “Now you'll treat it with responsibility.”

“Come with me, friends and foes, jump and crawl and scream! Hop! Leap! Skip!”

“Reversion.” Reverser threw the airplane.

Reversed Bunnix hopped into a burrow and vanished, and the airplane soared harmlessly into the air.

“I've lost visual,” Viperion said.

“She's gone,” Bunnix replied. “But where-REVERSER!”

Reverser heard the whirr of the burrow opening and saw a shadow behind him.

There was a loud and swift crack against the back of his head, and his world flashed with hot white pain, vision blurring as pain-reactive tears gathered in his eyes.

“Gah!” He dropped to his knees. His head swam, threatening to bring him on the verge of passing out. The glider tilted with his weight, sending him sprawling onto a nearby roof, elbows and legs scraping on the concrete.

“Tut, tut, Versey,” Reversed Bunnix said, smacking her umbrella against her hand like a club. “Too predictable. Too boring.”

Chat Noir lunged forward, but Reversed Bunnix dodged with a swift pivot of her leg. She laughed, sticking out her umbrella to trip him as he ran past. Her mocking expression leered at him from above as he fell.

There was a yell as King Monkey jumped from a nearby rooftop, staff aimed to strike. Reversed Bunnix's face changed suddenly to an expression of rage. She stepped back as he landed, surging forward with a knee straight to his chin. King Monkey fell.

“Too predictable!” She spat, hopping into her burrow only to jump back out with her hand around Viperion's wrist. She flung him to the ground like a ragdoll. “Too easy!” Another hop into the burrow and Rena Rouge was kicked into the circle, wheezing and holding her side where the rabbit villain had struck her.

Five heroes lay sputtering and coughing and stunned on the rooftop. Bunnix faced her double with a panicked and rage-filled expression.

“You could have made this _fun_ ,” Reversed Bunnix said. “How dare you waste my time!”

“Put all the Akumas back,” Bunnix yelled. “This isn't about fun!”

“I think it is. In fact, let's make this more exciting,” Reversed Bunnix said. She clapped her hands and the roof caved in.

Bunnix jumped away, hand extended to create a burrow, but the Reversed Bunnix tackled her with a laugh that sounded more like a beast's scream.

“Hop! Leap! Skip! Sing!” She cackled as the five heroes tumbled into darkness. “Hop! Leap! Skip! Sing!”

Reverser reached out his hand, and the glider dove into the crevice and under his feet, slowing his fall. The other heroes crash-landed into a pile of rubble and dust.

“We have to help Bunnix, quickly!” Reverser tilted the glider up and his world suddenly swam. He stumbled, arms wheeling, and fell to the ground.

“You're not going 'quickly' anywhere,” Rena Rouge said, grabbing Reverser's arm. “You're probably concussed.”

“I'm fine!” Reverser snapped, jerking his arm out of the fox hero's grip. “We have to get up-”

There was a grumbling sound as something leapt in the shadows above them, trailing a thick pink goo that blocked the opening. The substance dripped down, down the walls and hardened, sealing them in.

“I think we have problems of our own to deal with now,” Chat Noir said.

“Hey, I recognize this,” King Money said, poking a nearby glob. “This is just like when Mylene-oh.” He looked up.

Horrificator growled above them, tail thrashing and teeth bared.

King Monkey grinned. “Well, if it's just her, then we should be able to deal with her in no time! Remember, you just have to not feel fear and-”

The rocks around them shifted and rose. King Monkey backed away as a pair of glowing yellow eyes peeked out from a stone brow. Stoneheart braced himself against the wall, his head slowly moving to take in the group.

“You just had to say something,” Chat Noir muttered.

Viperion turned to face something in the shadows and his face paled. “It's worse,” he said, as Reflekta and Princess Fragrance stepped into what little light was filtering through Horrificator's goo.

“WHERE IS KIM!?” Stoneheart bellowed.

“I must find my prince!” Princess Fragrance seethed.

“You'll all look so much prettier if you look like me,” Reflekta laughed.

Horrificator made a gurgling noise and crawled down the wall.

“This is bad,” Chat Noir said, as the heroes backed into a circle. “Viperion?”

“Second Chance!” Viperion twisted the bracelet on his arm.

“Reverser, how are you holding up?”

“Everything's still blurry.”

“That's bad. But there's five of us and four of them-”

“Five of them,” Viperion corrected. “Vanisher's here too.”

A disembodied voice gave a growl of frustration. “You just had to spoil the surprise,” the voice sneered.

“Duck!” Viperion yelled, pulling Reverser out of the way as Stoneheart swung his fist across the room.

Chat Noir jumped away as something invisible brushed the back of his hand. “Stay back!” He yelled, grabbing a handful of rubble and sand and flinging it into the air, revealing the rough shape of Vanisher before she ran away and disappeared again with a giggle.

Rena Rouge dodged Reflekta's beams as the pink villain strutted towards her, hand extended. “Wouldn't you like to look like me?” Reflekta said, lips curling upward maliciously.

“No thanks,” Rena said, smacking away a beam with her flute. “I prefer the face I have!”

“Where do you plan to run to?” Princess Fragrance taunted as she fired her perfume pistol at King Monkey, who swung from beam to beam with an agility that lived up to his title. She pointed the nozzle of her gun and the ground, releasing a dangerous cloud of pink smoke that billowed around her, steadily growing larger as it filled the area. “It doesn't matter where you run,” she sang. “My perfume will fill every nook and cranny!”

Viperion backflipped away from Stoneheart. “Rena Rogue!” He called. “Switch with me!”

Rena jumped off a nearby beam and smacked Stoneheart on the knee. “Eyes on me, ugly!” She yelled, leaping back as Stoneheart roared in anger and grew in size. “Whoops.”

Viperion circled around Reflekta. “Juleka, I know it's you,” he pleaded. “Please, just listen to me!”

“I am Reflekta!” The villain shouted back. “Juleka doesn't exist anymore! Who needed her anyway?”

Reverser stumbled over a rock, his head still swimming. Something grabbed his leg, pulling him off-balance and into the air. “Oh, no,” he said, as the blood began to rush to his head and the world turned upside-down. “Guys? A little help?”

Chat Noir looked up to see Horrificator's tail wrapped around Reverser's leg, slowly pulling him up towards her. “Shit! Just hang tight!”

“Smell my perfume!” Princess Fragrance announced as the pink smoke begin to fill the room. Both the heroes and the villains began to back away.

“King Monkey!” Chat Noir yelled.

“Jubilation!” A squeaky toy smacked Princess Fragrance in the face, and her smoke dissipated into a cloud of confetti, the perfume gun in her hands turning into a pinata of a little pink pony. She screamed in rage, throwing it to the ground.

“Guys,” Reverser said with a straight face. “Help.”

“Get away from me!” Chat Noir kicked Vanisher away, brandishing his baton. “Hey! Don't pull on my tail!”

“Guys, I think Horrificator is going to eat me,” Reverser said, swaying as he was pulled higher and higher into the air.

“Rena, get back!” Viperion yelled, closing the gap between him and Reflekta in a few quick strides. He grabbed her arm, pointing it at Stoneheart as a beam of light shot out and hit the rock monster in the face. A second Reflekta fell to the ground.

“If any of you feel like helping me,” Reverser muttered. “I'd really appreciate that.”

Rena Rouge turned to Chat Noir. “Do the dust thing again!” She ordered, running towards him. Chat Noir ducked low, scooping up dirt and throwing it into the air, silhouetting Vanisher as she shielded her face, coughing.

“Gotcha!” Rena Rouge grabbed Vanisher and tackled her to the ground, pinning the invisible girl underneath her.

Horrificator brought Reverser up to her maw, baring a mouth full of fangs as she growled triumphantly.

“Y'know,” Reverser deadpanned, “I'm can't really see you right now, my eyes are still unfocused. I'm sure you look like the stuff of nightmares.”

Horrificator snarled, swinging Reverser like a pendulum over open space.

“Speaking of nightmares,” Reverser continued, clenching his hand and concentrating, “from wake to sleep. It's a good thing you're a big target so I probably won't miss. Reversion.”

The airplane hit Horrificator, and her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fell from the ceiling, dragging Reverser down with her.

Princess Fragrance screamed in fury, rushing towards King Monkey with her hands extended like the claws of a witch. “How could you! You horrid little-”

BOOM.

A giant pink monster fell on her and she was gone.

“Alright,” Reverser said, sliding off a sleeping Horrificator's back. “So _maybe_ I was lying about having blurry vision the whole way up. _But_ I'm still disappointed that none of you tried to save me.”

A few quick paper airplanes later, and the Akumas were out like lightbulbs, snoring in the dust.

“You okay?” Rena Rouge asked, steadying Reverser as he began to sway on his feet.

“Yeah,” Reverser said, letting her act as a crutch for him. “It's just-reversing the conscious and subconscious state of five people took a lot out of me. They'll be out for about eight hours, by the way, but I might need to take a moment to breathe.”

“We don't have a moment,” Viperion said, pointing at his bracelet and King Monkey.

“I'll cataclysm the goo,” Chat Noir said, crawling up to the ceiling with ease. “Reverser, you take Rena up there and help Bunnix. We'll join when we can.”

“Got it.”

“Let's go.”


	8. Reverser, the Character

_Approximately One Year before the Present Day_

Marc returned to school the next day _exhausted_.

After experimenting with a few more reversions (under Ladybug's supervision), he'd gone to bed feeling like he had cinder blocks for limbs, and woken up feeling like he had normal bricks for limbs instead.

“Well, miraculous powers use the energy of their Kwami,” Mightillustrator had explained while acting as his partner and lab rat once again. “But we don't have that, so whatever power you use will suck _your_ energy instead. That's why we don't have a time limit.”

“So, if I do some big change, it might kill me?”

“...maybe.”

“Great. My anxiety loves this.”

As Marc slid into his seat, he felt his phone buzz in his jacket pocket. With a sigh, he fished it out and opened the screen to the see words 'Nathaniel Kurtzberg' at the top of the text message.

Marc's heart leapt in his throat.

**Nath:** Hey

(message deleted)

 **Nath:** Hi Marc! Are we still up for meeting in the art room?

(message deleted)

 **Nath:** Hi Marc! Are we still up for meeting in the art room after school at 3?

Marc gave a small laugh, feeling less tense now that he knew Nathaniel was just as anxious as he was about this.

**Marc:** Sure! :)

 **Nath:** oh thnk god

(message deleted)

 **Nath:** Great! see you then!

“Alright class,” Miss Mendeleiev announced as she entered the room. “Put your phones away, and turn your textbooks to page 212. We have 50 minutes and I plan to make sure you're learning with every second.”

Marc groaned a little and reached for his textbook. Today was going to be a long day, he could already tell.

~oOo~

**Nath:** you don't have any allergies, do you?

 **Marc:** No. Why?

Marc sat in the Art Room, feeling very self-conscious but also too tired to really care. Marinette wasn't here, and he didn't recognize any of the people in the room. On the bright side, it seemed most of the people in this room were used to minding their own business, so a polite wave and an ambiguous head movement to anyone who locked eyes with him was all the social interaction he needed to give. He'd do the motions, and the person would give an ambiguous head motion back and return to their own projects, all interest in him lost.

Maybe the Art Room wasn't as intimidating as he thought.

“Sup?”

Marc turned to see a small girl with a confident air stepping into the room, her bag slung across one shoulder and blowing a wad of bubblegum the same shade as her hair. Her eyes were fixed on him.

Marc gave a polite wave and an ambiguous head movement towards her, as per the rules of the Art Room.

“Marc, right?”

 _Shit, she wasn't following the rules_.

“Uh...yeah,” Marc responded. She was one of Nathaniel's friends, wasn't she? They'd met when he first arrived. What was her name? Oh god, she was going to get offended that he didn't know her name and punch him and tell Nathaniel that he was actually the worst human being alive after all-

“The name's Alix,” the pink-haired girl said, sticking out her hand.

 _Oh thank fuck_.

“Marc,” the writer said, shaking Alix's hand.

Alix smirked. “I know. Nathaniel told me about you.”

“Hey,” Nathaniel said, poking his head in through the doorway.

“Well, speak of the devil and the devil appears,” Alix said, raising an eyebrow. “You're usually the first one here. What held you up?”

Nathaniel stepped in, carrying a paper bag under his armpit and two cups. “Snacks,” he replied, setting one next to Marc. “I hope you like coffee.”

Marc stared at the cup in front of him, slack-jawed. “Oh. Wow. Thank...thank you.”

Nathaniel fidgeted a little. “You looked tired, so I thought maybe some food would make you feel better.”

Marc looked up at the artist. He was tapping his fingers along the edge of the paper bag and staring at his shoes, peeking up a little past his bangs every once in while to glance at Marc before his pupils flicked back down to his shoelaces. Marc's heart thudded noticeably in his chest.

“I am tired,” Marc said. “Exhausted. Thank you so much.”

Nathaniel smiled warmly and took a seat next to Marc, placing the paper bag and his cup on the table. “So...uh...I'm not really sure how to do about the whole comic-making-thing, but I figured we could learn together.”

Alix leaned over Nathaniel's shoulder, sticking her hand in the bag and pulling out a croissant. “Show him your stuff, he'll show you his, make stuff based off of each other's stuff,” she said. “Boom. Easy.”

“Hey, that's not for you!”

Alix hopped out of arm's length, waving the pastry with one hand. “I'm considering it as payment for my expert advice.”

Marc chuckled, watching the two debate over the validity of Alix's advice as he sipped his coffee. There was an almost unholy amount of cream and sugar added, but Marc didn't mind. Bitter wasn't his style, anyway.

Nathaniel snorted, a short sound that made Marc's heart leap. “That's not true!” He said, his voice rising into a higher octave. His bangs obscured most of his side profile, but Marc could just barely catch the bright blue in his eyes as he threw his head back and laughed, a hint of teal glass in a field of red flowers.

What tired-brain poetry bullshit was this?

Marc found himself unable to look away. He'd had a small crush on Nathaniel before they'd met, but this...this was a whole new level of admiration. This was tidal-wave-chasing-a-sailboat levels of intensity. Nathaniel wasn't bitter or mean after all. He was kind and beautiful and Marc was falling in love _hard._

“Get lost, Alix,” Nathaniel said, turning to Marc. “Anyway, I have some art I wanted to show you, if that's okay.”

Marc forcibly pulled himself out of his infatuation daydream, trying to look like he hadn't been swooning over the artist for about five minutes. “Yeah, that's great,” he replied, taking another sip of his coffee even though his heart was already beating at a shockingly fast pace. He smiled, trying to look like a normal person-someone who was _not_ quickly falling for Nathaniel like a bullet aimed at the ground.

Nathaniel pulled out his sketchbook, and as he talked, Marc let himself fall a little faster.

~oOo~

A few days later, Reverser started taking patrols with Mightillustrator.

“Hey,” Might said, as Reverser hopped onto the roof of the news building. “Thanks for showing up. These night patrols can get really boring when you're alone.”

“Well, I've got a lot of thoughts to keep me up,” Reverser said, sitting down and swinging his legs out over the giant drop below them.

“Oh? Mind sharing a few of those thoughts?”

Reverser leaned back, looking up at the sky. Storm clouds were beginning to gather overhead, with the sound of thunder creating a pleasant rumbling in the distance. “We should be keeping personal stuff a secret,” he said. “Since we're superheroes and all.”

“Yeah, but I already know who you are.”

Reverser raised a finger. “If Hawkmoth _were_ to reakumatize you, then the more you knew about me and the people I cared about, the more danger they would be in.”

“If Hawkmoth _were_ to reakumatize me,” Mightillustrator retorted, “I would just. Say no.”

“What?”

“Nope. Not working for Hawkmoth.” Might grinned. “Not doing it.”

Reverser sighed. “I wish it was that easy.”

“Yeah.” Might glanced up at the sky. “Looks like it might rain.”

“Should we find a place with more cover?”

“Nah, if we have to I can make an umbrella.” Might tapped his pen against the tablet. “Or I would, if it wasn't dark. I hate cloudy nights.”

“Someone could throw a towel over your head and you'd be useless,” Reverser joked.

“Yeah, well your power only works on people,” Might said. “At least I've got a more versatile ability.”

Reverser nodded idly, waving his finger to make his glider fly lazy circles above his head. A cold breeze tugged at the corners of his paper suit, biting his exposed nose and cheeks with the unexpected chill.

Might nudged his arm. “But hey, your powers are still pretty impressive,” he said. “I wouldn't even know where to begin with those reversions. How do you do it?”

“Well, you have to be good at reading people,” Reverser said. “Figure out what kind of person they are.”

Might made an 'x' with his fingers. “Too difficult for me,” he said. “I couldn't do that even if I wanted to.”

Reverser laughed. “Yeah,” he said. “I can't draw to save my life, so I'm not exactly jealous of your abilities.”

“Speaking of abilities,” Might said, “I figured something out about your powers.”

“Oh?”

“Remember the whole cilantro thing we did?”

“Yeah, how did it go? Did a whole new culinary world open up for you?”

Mightillustrator pouted. “It was going great at first,” he said. “But this morning, I tried putting it on some rice and it tasted like soap again. I think your reversions have a time limit. And my rice was ruined.”

“That's sad,” Reverser said. “But I guess it makes sense. The human mind is always changing, so any magic effects probably wouldn't be able to last for long.”

Might squinted at him. “What are you, a psychologist?”

“I picked up a few books at the library on the human psyche,” Reverser said, turning his glider into its book mode and opening it up to the detransormation page. “If I'm going to be a hero, I may as well do it right.”

Mightillustrator whistled. “Look at you, putting in the extra work.” He leaned forward, peering at the colorful rip inside the book. “Hey, color. That's...really cool,” he said. “Can I touch it?”

“You're not going to try to read it again?”

“I'm not Chat Noir, I can't read in the dark.”

Reverser passed the book to Might, who placed in on his knees, carefully thumbing the pages. One hand traced down the center of the binding. “It's warm,” he said.

“Yeah, it does that. The texture's really weird, too.”

Mightillustrator scrunched up his face, bringing the book closer. “Woah, weird,” he said. “Do you want to know what I think?”

“I'm afraid to ask, but go ahead.”

“I think your journal's made of flesh.”

Reverser snatched the book back. “And I wish I didn't ask,” he said.

“It's warm, it's got a texture kinda like skin-”

“It's not a skin journal!”

Mightillustrator laughed at the flustered expression that Reverser gave him. One of his cheeks was tinted white, while the other was tinted dark to create a monochrome blush on his face.

A droplet of water fell on Mightillustrator's forehead. “Ah, shit. Looks like it's gonna rain after all.”

Reverser looked at his hand, his face suddenly changing to a shocked expression, then something unreadable.

Mightillustrator glanced around, searching for a light on the roof. Without his wings drawn, getting off the roof to a street lamp or other light source would be more trouble than he preferred. The sparse droplets of water were quickly turning into a steady shower, which Might did not appreciate at all, flattening his hair against his head, cold and uncomfortable against the back of his neck.

“Might.” Reverser tucked his journal against his chest.

“Hold on,” Mightillustrator said, standing up. “I'm trying to find some light.”

He started walking around the perimeter of the rooftop, searching for a spotlight storage place, or a lamp, or anything. But, to his dismay, the staff of the TV studio took care to keep their electrical equipment out of places where rain could reach. Puddles were forming beneath his feet, but his superhero costume was thankfully waterproof.

“Might.” Reverser stood up, clutching the side of his hood to shield his face from the rain.

Mightillustrator jogged to the rooftop entrance, jiggling the handle. “Locked. Of course,” he grumbled.

“Might!”

“What?” Mightillustrator turned to Reverser. “Are you okay? You look miserable. Is the rain that bad for you?”

Reverser's face would have been red if he had any color. Instead, the two sides of his face were turning paler and darker respective to their halves. His hood was sagging, practically flat against his head. “Might, my...my _costume's made of paper_.”

Might looked down at Reverser's feet. In the water, pieces of his boots were beginning to soften and float away. “Oh.” He said. “Oh that's...that's bad.”

Reverser buried his face in his hands, his knees together and his shoulders hunched. “Oh my god,” he hissed. “This is embarrassing. Should I detransform? What if someone comes up here and sees me? Fuck, my clothes-”

“Hold on,” Might said. “Don't panic, I'll think of something.”

“Might, _I think this is a perfectly valid time to panic-_ ”

“Your journal!” Might ran over to Reverser. “It has a screen function! I can use that as a light!”

Reverser quickly flipped open his journal, using his body to protect it against the rain. He opened it to the screen function and pointed the page at Might's tablet, illuminating the screen on Might's arm with a dull light.

Thankfully, it was enough. Within a matter of seconds, Mightillustrator had drawn a bright floating lamp and a large umbrella.

“Here,” he said, handing the umbrella to Reverser as he set to work making another structure. Reverser clutched it like a lifeline, shuffling awkwardly as his boots began to slosh off of his ankles.

A small triangular rooftop materialized, pillars running down to the ground. A raised platform appeared, and a bench lifted from that platform into a fancy swirling design. Mightillustrator stepped back, examining the gazebo that he'd just made.

“This should keep us out of the rain,” he said, motioning for Reverser to move in. Gratefully, Reverser stepped up to the elevated platform and took a seat on the bench, folding the umbrella and leaning it against one of the pillars.

“Thanks,” Reverser said, looking up at the floating light, hanging above them like a chandelier. “I'm going to be honest, having my clothes disintegrate off my body is something I _never_ thought I would have to worry about.”

Might chuckled, combing the water out of his hair with his fingers and taking a seat beside Reverser. “I can imagine. Here, give me a second and I can fix your clothes.”

Reverser blinked. “You can do that?”

Mightillustrator shrugged. “I've done it for myself all the time,” he said, twirling his pen in his fingers. “The suit is handy, but it's restricting when you need to check for bruising, or when you need to take a piss, et cetera. Detransforming and retransforming also works, but it takes up more energy than just erasing and re-drawing, so...” Might trailed off, already sketching lines.

Reverser started as a blue light formed around his feet. His boots began to shift, connecting back to his leggings as though they had never been damaged at all.

“I take it back,” Reverser said, peeling his damaged hood off of his head. It tore away from his shoulders easily, and he flung the paper away. “I'm maybe a _little_ bit jealous of your abilities.”

Mightillustrator grinned, his heart beating a little faster. “I told you. Versatile.”

A gust of wind whistled through the gazebo, bringing a slight chill and a few stray droplets. Reverser shuffled a little closer to Might, shoulder to shoulder.

Without his hood, Reverser didn't look quite as intimidating. His hair was neatly parted down the middle, bisecting his head into black and white. The mess of hair at the back of his skull, however, was a mix of both white and black strands, a hint of disorder in the neat and perfectly balanced color scheme that Reverser wore.

A feeling sparked in Mightillustrator's heart.

He knew this feeling well. He'd felt it when he first had a crush on Marinette, and later, when he'd had a small crush on Ladybug. But his feelings for Marinette had never been this strong, and his crush on Ladybug had faded in time as he eventually saw the heroine as a platonic partner and a mentor.

This feeling, however, was strong, insistent. He wanted to know more about Reverser. He wanted more of Reverser, his smile, his witty retorts, his defined jaw and high cheekbones-

Did he...did he _like_ Reverser?

And by extension, _did he like Marc_?

There was a clap of thunder overhead, lighting the sky in a sudden flash. Mightillustrator suddenly felt very warm, leaning against Reverser in the rain, looking out across the horizon.

Marc was nice. He was sweet. He was pretty, too-really pretty, with long lashes and soft-looking lips and-

Yep, he liked Marc, too.

The rest of the night patrol passed by in silence. Reverser pulled out a book from his journal's pocket dimension and began reading, his body slowly tilting until his head was leaning against Might's shoulder. Might stayed very still and panicked a lot internally.

Why now, all of a sudden? And why was this feeling so strong?

Reverser's breathing began to slow, and he set the book down on his knees, leaning closer against Might until his entire body was pressed against Might's side. His eyes were shut, his breathing deep and even. Might desperately wanted to relax into Reverser's weight, but was afraid if he got too close Reverser would hear the quick staccato beating of his heart.

Just as Mightillustrator felt like he was going to die on the spot if he didn't break the tension somehow, Chat Noir and Ladybug showed up to relieve them of their post.

“Hey, boys,” Ladybug said, knocking on the pillar of the gazebo and stepping in. “How are the shared patrols working out?”

“A lot less boring,” Mightillustrator answered honestly.

Reverser yawned, stretching as he pulled away from Might's shoulder. “It was good,” he said, rubbing one eye with his fist. “I may have dozed off though. Thanks for being so attentive,” he said, grabbing the umbrella leaning against the gazebo.

“No problem,” Might said in a voice that almost cracked when Reverser patted his shoulder.

There were a lot of thoughts swirling around Might's head now.

Dammit, he wasn't going to be sleeping tonight.


	9. The Lady and her Jewelry

“Alright,” Mightillustrator said, spreading his wings as he kept an aerial view over the group of heroes. Carapace and Pegasus had returned and were following closely behind Ryuko and Ladybug, keeping close together in case they needed to teleport or make a shelter. “If you were Dark Lady, where would you go?”

Ladybug's voice buzzed in his earpiece. “All we really know is that she's after Chat Noir, and she can control other heroes, most likely by touching them,” she answered. “We don't know if she has any other ulterior motives.”

“Observation indicates that this area of Paris has been abandoned,” Pegasus said.

“No, not abandoned,” Mightillustrator responded. “There's something in the distance.”

He dropped to a nearby building, sketching a pair of binoculars and throwing them down to Ladybug before starting to sketch a pair of his own.

“Dude,” Carapace scowled. “At least make some for all of us.”

“I'm still not forgiving you for besting me at arm wrestling,” Might replied. “Guess you'll have to rely on those incredible eyes of yours.”

“It's not my fault your powers don't come with super-strength, bro,” Carapace responded. “What's the score between you and Chat Noir, by the way?”

“Ehh, 3 to 20,” Might said.

Pegasus raised an eyebrow. “So you cheated 3 times.”

“Rude.”

“Might, focus,” Ladybug said, crouching lower against the roof. “What do you see?”

Might finished sketching his binoculars. “It looks like an army,” He said. “They're far enough away that we can avoid them. Looks like the soldiers are from the Darkblade Akuma.”

“Who are they fighting?” Ryuko asked.

“It looks like-I think that's Malediktator,” Ladybug responded. “Darkblade and Malediktator are probably fighting for control! That must be why no one's here, Darkblade must have turned them all into his soldiers!”

“Crazy. Isn't Malediktator the Akuma version of the Mayor?”

“And Chloe's dad,” Mightillustrator muttered with a frown. “Hopefully we won't have to...wait, Chloe used to be Queen Bee, right?”

Ryuko realized what Might was thinking first. “Do you think Dark Lady can take control of her?”

“Even if she could, I doubt it would put the odds in her favor,” Pegasus said. “Without a miraculous, Chloe is just as human as anyone else.”

“Maybe a little less human than everyone else,” Might cut in. “Just saying.”

“And besides, Ladybug has the Miracle Box,” Carapace said. “So no worries, dude.”

Ladybug instantly paled.

Carapace noticed the change in attitude and froze. “Oh shit.”

The heroes shared a silent, fearful exchange of quick glances.

Ryuko finally spoke what everyone was thinking. “Dark Lady knows where the miracle box is,” she said. “She has Ladybug's memories.”

“And there's a possibility that she may already have it in her possession,” Pegasus added.

“What do we do?” Might tried to quell the tremble in his throat. “Do we try to get to the box first and hope she hasn't made it there yet?”

“She could be on her way to get Chloe right now,” Ladybug said. “We can't afford to be wrong.”

“Your call, Ladybug,” Carapace said.

Ladybug straightened. “We're splitting up again,” she said, opening her yo-yo to the technology function. “Pegasus, I need you to teleport me to this location. Please keep this between us.”

Pegasus glanced at the holographic screen that appeared in his horseshoe weapon. “Understood.”

“Ryuko, Carapace, Might, you find Chloe and get her somewhere safe, got it?”

Might made a disgusted face. “This is exactly what I was hoping we wouldn't have to do,” he complained.

“We can't afford to let Dark Lady get any more allies.” Ladybug turned to Pegasus, who was already in the process of opening a portal. “We'll join back up with you as soon as we can.”

There was a flash of blue light and she was gone.

Might gave an audible groan. “Alright, team,” he muttered in a heroic, definitely-not-pissed kind of way. “Let's go.”

Ryuko nodded, her face set in a grim, determined line.

Carapace glanced between the two heroes. “I'm getting the vibes that you don't want to protect Chloe,” He said, more of a question than a statement.

“Ladybug gave us orders. If she wants Chloe out of harm's way, we'll do it,” Ryuko answered coolly.

“Of course, she didn't say we had to be...nice about it,” Mightillustrator responded with an expressionless face.

Carapace squinted. “You sure you two are actually heroes?”

Might gave a winning smile, like a dog baring his teeth. “Oh, definitely,” he said, taking back off into the sky.

Carapace shook his head slowly. “I wouldn't want to be Chloe right now,” he muttered to himself before taking off after his two companions.

~oOo~

“Daddy, help!” Chloe pressed her palms flat against the window, watching as hundreds of armor-clad figures marched along the outside of the hotel, forming a barricade.

“You dare to upset _my_ daughter!” Malediktator bellowed. “By the power vested in me, I declare you all _my_ soldiers!” Golden beams of light arced from his fingers, striking a dozen of Dark Blade's knights. The knights instantly turned and began to charge at their former leader.

Dark Blade laughed as he fended off the knights with ease. “Anon, thy precious heiress shall be hostage to mine own kingdom,” he declared. “Then I shall maketh thee give up thine own power over this land and take my place as the rightful ruler of Paris!”

“Chloeeeee,” a high pitched voice sang, as a pink-haired Akuma pushed through the crowd of armored knights. “Come play with me,” Miraculer called. “You can be Ladybug, and I'll be Chat Noir, just like you wanted!”

Chloe gave a shriek as the window on the other side of the room vanished, and a red-haired artist with wings stepped through.

“I would say it's good to see you again,” the artist said with a sneer, “but I'm not prone to lying.”

“Ah! Mightillustrator, finally!” Chloe crossed her arms with an irritated huff. “You're a hero, right? So do your job already!”

The hero laughed.

Chloe resisted the urge to stomp her foot. “What's so funny?”

“Oh, I'm not here to fight them,” the artist said. “I'm here to make sure that you're safe and sound until the lady herself gets here.”

“Well, it's about time the heroes started doing something around here,” Chloe said. “Of course, Queen Bee could easily-hey!”

The artist grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “We're leaving,” he said, spreading his wings and jumping out the erased window.

“Watch it!” Chloe said, kicking and squirming as they soared easily over the line of soldiers. “This is no way to carry a-AAAH!”

With a snap of his wings, the red-haired artist was diving towards the ground, through the open window of a nearby office building, where he unceremoniously dumped Chloe onto the ground. She winced as her shoulder hit the barely carpeted and definitely-not-vacuumed floor.

“How dare you!” Chloe spat.

The artist only gave her an unimpressed stare. “Chloe, do you remember the first time you met me? In this form?”

“What?”

“Of course you don't,” he said. “Everyone forgot my Akumatization, courtesy of Ladybug's hero-making power.”

“What's that got to do with anything-”

“I became who I am because of you,” the artist continued. “Your selfishness, your arrogance, your fucking stuck up attitude that made you think you were better than anyone else-I suppose,” he said with a cold laugh, “I have you to thank for the life I'm living now.”

Chloe sat up and looked around. The office was unlit, but she could just barely make out the silhouette of someone else in the corner, a large, triangle-shaped hood covering their face. “Well, you're welcome then. I am incredible, aren't I-”

“Shut up.”

The artist stepped closer, looming over her like an angel of death. “I'm telling you this because I want you to know that I hate every inch of your fucking body. But,” he crouched down, keeping eye contact with her, “I'm willing to work together with you just this once.”

“Work together?”

Evillustrator gave a wolf-like grin. “What if told you that I could give you the chance to be Queen Bee once again?”

~oOo~

“Ha! Thy vile words doth not compare to the might of mine own army!” Dark Blade crowed as he charged toward Malediktator.

“This way,” Mightillustrator whispered, shuffling along the side of the Le Grand Paris hotel. A few quick strokes and the wall disappeared. “New entrance,” he said.

“The door is literally three feet to the left,” Ryuko pointed out.

Might shrugged. “Three less feet for us to walk. Besides, I think this hotel could do with a bit more open space.”

“Dude,” Carapace said. “What did Chloe do to you?”

Might placed his hands on his hips. “I'd give you the full version but Ladybug wants us to get Chloe within the month, so in short: she's a bitch and I don't like her.”

“That's fair.”

“You have a very petty way of expressing your hatred,” Ryuko observed as she stepped through the new doorway.

“I can be blunter if you want,” Might said. “Do you think some wet cement might bring out the intricate textile patterns of the carpet?”

The elevator door pinged open and Mayor Bourgeois ran out. “Mightillustrator! Thank goodness you've returned!”

Ryuko drew her rapier, holding the point against the Mayor's neck. “That's far enough.”

“Whoah, whoah, chill out!” Carapace tried to grab Ryuko's arm, but the still active Thunder Dragon energy sparked dangerously when he got too close.

“We shouldn't let our guard down around anyone,” Ryuko said, not taking her eyes off of the cowering Mayor. “How did you know we were here?”

“Th-there are cameras,” the Mayor said, looking at Mightillustrator. “I saw you return with these two after you took my daughter to safety. I'm not an Akuma, I swear!”

Might stepped forward, and the Mayor took a step backwards in response. “You saw me what?”

“My daughter,” the Mayor said. “She was trapped in the top suite when you came along and...that was you, wasn't it?”

“An entrance!” One of Dark Blade's knights poked his head through the new doorway. “Prepareth for an invasion!”

“You will not be taking over _my_ hotel!” Malediktator's voice boomed overhead.

Mayor Bourgeois gave a very professional squeak and scuttled back to the elevator. “I trust you'll fix everything, heroes,” he said as the elevator doors closed.

Might stood still in the center of the lobby. “Fuck.”

“Well, I guess we have to go find your evil twin,” Carapace said. “Bummer.”

“If you were Evillustrator, where would you go?” Ryuko asked.

Might shook his head. “I have no idea,” he said. “Probably somewhere close, because I doubt he'd be thrilled with the idea of carrying Chloe for any long period of time.”

“So we should spread out,” Ryuko said. “Search all the buildings within radius of our earpieces so we don't lose touch.”

“I'm not super hyped about the idea of splitting up,” Carapace admitted.

“What do you have to worry about? Your power protects you from literally anything,” Might said. “We're the ones that'll be in trouble if we get ambushed.”

“Evillustrator could pretend to be you,” Ryuko said. “We have to prepare for that.”

“Here,” Might said, sketching. Two pieces of paper floated from his tablet, and he handed them to the heroes. “Read it, and then destroy it.”

Ryuko scanned the paper. “Smart thinking,” she said, vaporizing it with an electric flicker in her hand.

~oOo~

“What are they saying?” Evillustrator's voice buzzed in Revisionist's ear.

“I'm sure they're saying many important things that are being interrupted by your obnoxious voice,” Revisionist hissed back as he scanned the cameras in the hotel.

“Whatever. Head back to the building,” Evillustrator said. “Dark Lady should be back any minute now and if I have to listen to this bitch talk about herself for one more minute I might actually kill her.”

“I offered to reverse her,” Revisionist coolly responded as he stepped to the open window.

“You offered to reverse _me_.”

“I can't stand either of you. It'd be a win-win situation for me.”

“Well I can recall one situation where you enjoyed my company,” Evillustrator sang.

Revisionist could almost sense the artist's mocking smile on the other end of the call. He grit his teeth. “Don't even think about bringing that up,” he growled, leaping onto his glider.

Evillustrator's laugh echoed like a ringing in his ear. “Even when we're both evillized you're still too shy to talk about it.”

“Go to hell,” Revisionist spat.

Evillustrator only laughed louder. “You're cute when you're angry,” he purred.

“Be glad I'm not in front of you because I'd-wait.” Revisionist tilted back, bringing the glider to a standstill. “I have eyes on Ryuko. She's near your position.”

“What is she doing?”

“She's checking the buildings,” Reverser said. “If she gets to Chloe then she'll cause problems. Should I handle it?”

“Against Ryuko?” Evillustrator huffed. “With her dexterity and aerial speed, she's almost perfectly designed to take advantage of your weaknesses. Get back to base and keep an eye on Miss Nepotism. I'll handle her.”

“Understood.”

Evillustrator sighed as his earpiece went silent. The window was open towards the hotel, and he could see a golden beam rising into the sky. Apparently Malediktator was growing tired of small decrees and was going to plan a larger, everyone-in-Paris-is-doomed kind of bullshit plan.

What a fucking asshole.

“Hey, Mightillustrator? Hello?” Chloe said, spinning idly in an office chair as she worked at her fingers with a nail file. “When is Ladybug going to be here? I don't like being kept waiting, you know.”

Jesus fucking christ he was going to kill her.

Evillustrator whipped around with a forced smile. “Oh, it shouldn't be long,” he said, baring his teeth in a way that did not convey friendliness by any stretch of the imagination. He walked to the office door and stepped out into the hallway. “I have to go deal with something, so Reverser's going to babysi-protect you while I'm gone.”

“Ugh, whatever,” Chloe put her feet up on the desk. “But it's getting really boring just sitting here.”

“ _I don't fucking care_ ,” Evillustrator hissed under his breath before closing the door.

A few quick and unconventional new doorways later and Evillustrator was out into the open air, getting as far away from Chloe as possible. The light from Malediktator disappeared abruptly. Dark Blade had probably forced him to stop. Or maybe he'd cut the mayor's throat with that sword of his. One less potential threat to deal with, in that instance.

“Right,” he said, hopping up to a rooftop and placing a hand over his earpiece. “Where is she?”

A bolt of lightning whizzed past his face, making his hair stand on end.

Revisionist's voice buzzed through. “Right in front of you.”

“Yeah, I figured it out, thanks,” Evillustrator responded, before cutting the call short. “Hey!” He called back. “Don't shoot! It's me!”

Ryuko kept her rapier pointed at him. “Why should I trust you?” She said, her voice deliberately emotionless.

“Look, if you don't trust me, that's fine,” Evillustrator said. “But I found Chloe. We don't have much time though, we need to-”

Another bolt of lightning shot from her rapier towards him. Evillustrator tried to dodge, but it caught him in the side and sent him flying. He gave a short cry of pain as his back hit the side of a building with a solid crack and he fell to the ground.

“Wrong answer,” Ryuko said, standing on the rooftop above him. She put a hand to her ear. “Everyone, I've found Evillustrator. Looks like your plan worked, Mightillustrator. No visual on Chloe, though.”

Evillustrator got to his feet, ignoring the way his side throbbed.

“Surrender your pen and tell me where you've hidden Chloe Bourgeois,” Ryuko said, brandishing her rapier. Lightning sparked ominously around her shoulders, like a cloak of electricity.

“Yeah, I have a few counter-suggestions,” Evillustrator said, brushing the dirt off of his knees. With a quick stroke of his pen, the wall behind him disappeared and he leapt inside.

Ryuko dove in after him.

~oOo~

“Ryuko? Ryuko, answer me!” Mightillustrator perched on top of a lamppost, using his tablet to track Ryuko's location. “Carapace, did you get all that?”

“Should we go help her or keep searching for Chloe?”

Mightillustrator ground his teeth. “Ladybug said we have to find Chloe. Once we know where she is, we'll go help Ryuko.”

“Do you think she'll be able to hold him off?”

“I don't want to admit that Ryuko is stronger than me, but in this case, I really fucking hope so.”

A flash of movement caught his peripheral vision, and he ducked low. “I have something on visual.”

“Who is it?”

“It's Revers-no, it's Revisionist,” Might corrected. “Reverser wouldn't be on his own. I'm going to follow him. Maybe he can lead me to Chloe.”

“Just a sec, dude,” Carapace's voice lowered to a hushed whisper. “I see Ladybug-or Dark Lady. She's headed this way.”

“Can you see her eyes?”

“Too far away, man. Pegasus isn't with her, either.”

“Well he used his power, so maybe he's detransformed right now.” Might looked up. “Shit, I've lost visual on Revisionist. Hold for a sec.”

Mightillustrator moved forward, his heart in his throat. He didn't want to confront Revisionist if he didn't have to. Reverser when he was first akumatized was bad enough, but an Evil Reverser who now had full understanding and control of his abilities?

That was an apocalypse-level of nope that he did not want to encounter.

Might jumped on a rooftop, turned the corner of a chimney-

-and found himself staring directly at Revisionist's back.

He jumped away, pressing his back flat against the wall and slapping a hand over his mouth to stifle any sound. His heart was beating like a caged animal trying to bludgeon itself to death against his ribs.

“Evillustrator,” the chillingly familiar voice said. “Evillustrator, if you don't fucking answer me-”

His voice cut short. _He's found me_ , Mightillustrator thought, feeling sweat drip down his neck.

“Is that so? Well, don't take too long,” the voice resumed again. “I don't care if she's going to suffocate, that's your problem. The fewer heroes we have to worry about, the better.”

Might felt his chest grow tighter with anxiety.

“Yeah, I'm on my way,” Revisionist said. “Some of us value the concept of not making a moving target of ourselves-hold on.”

Carapace buzzed in Mightillustrator's ear. “Might, you need to get here now. I managed to sneak close enough to see her eyes and they're black! It's Dark Lady, man! She's heading straight for Chloe!”

Might slid down the wall, hands still clasped over his mouth.

“Might, I need backup, now!” Carapace yelled.

“Understood,” Revisionist said. “Don't bother keeping her alive, then.”

A red figure swung across the horizon, carrying something spherical under her arm.

“Look, if Dark Lady thinks you can deal with Reverser, then what I think doesn't matter-”

Something in Might snapped.

He raced around the corner, pen already in hand. “Don't you fucking dare!” Might spat. Revisionist whirled, but chains had already materialized around his arms, securing him tightly to the chimney.

“Where did you come from?” Revisionist hissed.

“Oh, you know me,” Mightillustrator said as he stepped backwards. The chains tightened, pulling Revisionist's wrists together. “I'm not exactly known for knocking on the door.”

There was no glider or book in sight, which meant Might couldn't detransform his friend. Shit, just his luck.

“Might!” Carapace yell-whispered back. “Where are you, man?”

“Just a sec,” Might snapped back. “You, Revisionist. Where's Evillustrator?”

Understanding flashed across Revisionist's eyes and he laughed. “He's already long gone. You _could_ probably follow him, but that would mean leaving Ryuko to die, wouldn't it?”

Might clenched his fists, wanting to retaliate, but finding himself unable to.

Revisionist only smiled wider. “But of course, by saving her, wouldn't you be abandoning your other friends and Chloe to Dark Lady?”

“Shut up.”

“I don't want to.”

“Might, please hurry, dude!”

“You better make your decision, Might,” Revisionist taunted. “The clock is ticking.”

Mightillustrator turned and ran.

Revisionist watched him go until he was out of his line of sight. With a twitch of his fingers, he signaled for the glider hiding in the open window of the building to emerge, circling higher and higher into the air like a beacon where anyone could see it. Moments later, a lady with a red suit and black spots landed on the roof in front of him, carrying a spherical box that matched her outfit.

Revisionist tilted his head. “And to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to?” He asked.

Solid black eyes opened and stared back at him.

“Dark Lady. Good to see you.” Revisionist waggled his fingers.

“Where's Chloe?” Dark Lady asked, stepping forward and breaking the chains with a single heel kick. The chains splintered into blue fragments and disappeared.

Revisionist rubbed his wrists, the broken chains dissipating from his arms. “Don't worry,” he said. “I'll take you to her. But first,” he created an airplane in his fingers, “the world of the compassionate is a joke to live in. Let's change that.”

Revisionist threw an airplane. It soared past Dark Lady's head, down towards the turtle hero on the building behind her. Carapace pulled up his shield to stop it, but the airplane absorbed into it.

“I guess no one told you that defense is useless against my airplanes,” Revisionist called back. “Reversion.”

Carapace lowered his shield, his eyes cold and icy. Without a second glance, he turned and leapt away.

“Not bad,” Dark Lady said with an approving nod. “Although I would have preferred if you had brought him closer to us instead. We could have used a new ally.”

Revisionist stepped on his glider and extended a hand to Dark Lady. “We can get him later. Right now, Chloe's waiting.”

The two of them flew across Paris. Hundreds of metal soldiers marched down the streets, now completely empty except for a single stray Akuma-Miraculer, who was fighting for her life against the endless horde of black knights. They continued on until the glider reached a building with an open window into a hallway.

“She's all yours,” Revisionist said. “Door on the left.”

Dark Lady stepped into the building. “Something's on your mind,” she said, turning back to Revisionist. “Tell me.”

Revisionist looked out over the buildings in the direction that Might had gone.

“You want to fight him?”

Revisionist didn't answer. His body was tense, like a wound-up spring.

Dark Lady gave a swift jerk of her head. “Go.”

Revisionist sped away without so much as a second glance.

She turned away as he glided out of view and opened the door.

“Ladybug!” Chloe sat up. “You're here!”

“I am,” Dark Lady said, opening one of the tabs on the miraculous box and pulling out a bee-ornamented hairpin. “And I need your help.”

~oOo~

“Come on,” Might hissed as he followed Ryuko's blinking icon on his tablet, recklessly flying above the buildings, no longer caring about stealth. “Ryuko, pick up! Carapace, what's your status?”

No one answered.

“Fuck,” Might gasped, feeling anxiety constrict against his chest and his throat.

He skidded to a stop when he saw the damage. Where there was once a building, a simple metal structure filled with rubble was standing-well, at this point you could hardly call it _standing_ -and in the center of the former building was a circular structure made of steel.

“Ryuko!” Might scrambled over rocks, quickly using his pen to erase layer after layer of steel, rubber, plastic, steel, rubber, plastic, steel-

It seemed like an eternity until he reached the hollow inside of the dome, and found Ryuko, collapsed on the ground, wisps of air from her wind dragon form slowly curling off of her body.

“Fuck!” Might crawled inside, grabbing the heroine by the armpits and pulling her into the open air. “Ryuko, wake up!”

Ryuko's chest heaved as air filled her lungs, but her eyes remained closed. The symbols on her chest were all empty, and the choker on her neck was blinking at a rapid pace.

“Shit, shit, Ryuko, wake up!” When it became obvious that the heroine was out cold, Might did the only thing he could think of: he drew another dome around her, this time with air holes and a door. After writing a quick explanation note and taping it to her forehead, he turned and closed the door, sighing with relief as he heard the sound of her detransformation.

“Hey, Ryuko's Kwami?” Mightillustrator called. “Can you look out for her until I get back?”

There was a short pause. “I'll do what I can,” an unfamiliar voice called back.

“Alright.” Might opened up the tablet. “Next step-find Chloe.”

“I think we have differing ideas on what the 'next step' is,” A voice responded.

Mightillustrator had the sense to move away before turning to face the speaker. An airplane whizzed past his nose as he jumped back, tripping over a pile of rubble and tumbling to the bottom.

Revisionist hovered over him on his glider, smirking.

“Revisionist,” Might hissed.

“In the flesh,” Revisionist answered. “I'm guessing you won't just let me reverse you now?”

“That's not happening,” Might said, crouching to the ground, wings partially extended.

“So that's a no?” Revisionist hummed thoughtfully, before leaning forward. “Perfect.”

~oOo~

Chloe held the bee miraculous in her hands. “You made the right choice by choosing me, Ladybug,” she said.

“Yes, I know,” Dark Lady said, a little impatiently.

“By the way, you should do something about your eyes. They're ridiculously dilated.”

Dark Lady sighed wearily. “Yes, I know.”

“Pollen, buzz on-”

The window behind Chloe shattered as another Ladybug jumped in. “Chloe, get away!” She yelled. “That's not me!”

“Aaah!” Chloe leapt away, already in the process of transforming. “Two Ladybugs? What's going on?”

“She's an Akuma,” Ladybug said, twirling her yo-yo. “Don't let her-”

Dark Lady dropped the Miracle Box and grabbed Queen Bee's arm. Queen Bee instantly stilled, turning to face Dark Lady with a blank stare.

“Queen Hornet,” Dark Lady said. “Welcome to the team.”


	10. Reverser, Realized

_Approximately Six Months before the Present Day_

It was a normal night in Paris.

Not too cloudy sky, nice moon, people in the streets staring up at an Akuma, a few mosquitoes buzzing around, et cetera, et cetera.

“Ladybug! Chat Noir!” A green-skinned man in flowing ornamental robes floated in front of the Eiffel Tower, holding a crystal ball in his long fingers. “I am Predictevility, and I predict that you two will hand your Miraculous over to me!”

“Boo! Your name sucks!” Reverser yelled.

“Ladybug and Chat Noir aren't even here yet!” Mightillustrator called out. “Oh, hey Rev!”

“Hey what's up man?”

“Oh, you know, superhero things. How about you?”

“Been trying to get to sleep for the past two hours but haven't been able to, honestly.”

“Oh no!”

“Yeah, weather changes sometimes give me migraines.”

Predictevility's face turned an even darker shade of green. “How dare you ignore me!”

Mightillustrator put his hands on his hips. “Well excuse me for looking out for my friend's health!”

“Yeah!” Reverser stuck out his tongue.

“Silence!” Predictevility pointed his finger at one of the passerby standing below. A beam of light shot from the crystal ball, vaporizing the civilian man into a cloud of mist. The crowd around him screamed and began to scatter.

“With their power, I can predict the future with complete accuracy!” Predictivility crowed. “No one can accuse me of being a fraud again!”

“You just fucking killed him!” Might yelled. “What the fuck!”

“His energy will fuel my crystal ball!”

“He had a family!”

“A small price to pay to achieve my dream!”

“He was a florist, you asshole!”

“Now, Futurae!” Predictevility swirled his hand across the ball's surface, and the mist inside rose to his touch. “Prove yourself by giving me a secret from the past!”

The crystal ball shifted and swirled with a glittery purple mist. Wind began to circle around him and thunder boomed loudly, an unusual sound in a sky that was only partly cloudy. Predictivility's eyes began to glow and change color rapidly like the lights at a rave party, but the kind of rave party where they'd replace dubstep with ancient Latin chanting and the like.

“The fates decree,” Predictevility declared with a pompous voice, “that you, Mightillustrator, were once akumatized.”

“Everyone knows that already!” Mightillustrator yelled back. Reverser booed.

“I'M NOT FINISHED!” Predictevility screamed, stomping his foot. The fact that he was floating on open air made the stomping particularly underwhelming, but the way his voice boomed to an extremely loud degree made up for it.

“Ahem-you were once akumatized because you were bullied for your art,” Predictevility clapped his hands and the effects faded, creating a quiet silence.

“Holy shit,” Mightillustrator whispered. “That was really underwhelming.”

Reverser could almost see the veins popping in Predictevility's neck.

“I was bullied for my art? That's the best you could come up with? I'm pretty sure I said that in an interview once!” Might crossed his arms. “I mean, this, this is just disappointing.”

“That's because,” Predictevility hissed through gritted teeth. “I need more people. To make. Better. Predictions.”

“Whatever,” Might said, stretching. “I already saw what you had to offer and I'm not really impressed, so...”

“Ass-kicking time?” Reverser asked.

Might nodded. “Ass-kicking time.”

~oOo~

Approximately three minutes later Reverser and Mightillustrator were running for their lives as a cackling Akuma floated overhead, shooting beam after beam of crystal energy.

“Okay, ass-kicking time can wait until later!” Might called back and Reverser grabbed him by the arm and threw him out of the way of a beam, into the window of a classroom. The glass shattered, but Might quickly rebuilt the window as Predictevility soared past, searching for the source of the noise.

“He's really nimble,” Might commented, erasing the broken glass on the floor. “I was not expecting him to get the upper hand.”

“Quiet,” Reverser hissed. “He could still be nearby.”

“Well, I'm not against you pulling us into an empty room for some alone time, but what's the plan?”

“We can't let the Akuma run free for long,” Reverser said, already moving to the door. “You heard him, the more people he collects, the more powerful his predictions will be.”

“He's definitely got the 'self-entitled oracle' stereotype down,” Might said, peering out the window. “I mean, just look at that design, it's-”

“Tacky.”

“-Incredible!”

Might and Reverser spoke in unison, before turning to look at each other with raised eyebrows.

“I'm sorry,” Reverser said, “does the artist hero need to get his eyes checked? That-” he pointed to the villain. “-is hideous!”

Might scoffed. “Well of course you'd think that, Mr. Minimalist,” he said. “You wouldn't recognize a good color palette if it smacked you in the face.”

“I'll smack you in the face-”

The door opened, and Ladybug walked in. “I knew it,” she said, sighing wearily. “Quit your bickering and let's go.”

“Reverser started it-”

“Don't.” Ladybug pointed her finger at Might. “I've had a rough day and I'm not dealing with you two fighting right now, okay?”

Mightillustrator and Reverser meekly followed Ladybug out into the Collège Françoise Dupont school courtyard. Chat Noir was leaning against the wall, one foot up against it like someone who's trying to look cool but also maybe trying a bit too hard.

“So,” he said, all cool and relatable-like.

“Ladybug, are you feeling okay?” Might asked.

Ladybug scowled.

“We were planning to capture Predictevility while you two were distracting him,” Chat Noir explained. “But some asshole decided to run a red light and nearly squashed our bugaboo, and we lost our chance, so-”

“I'm kind of pissed,” Ladybug said. “It's been a long day, and I just want to get back to sleep-don't call me bugaboo, by the way.”

“Okay,” Chat Noir said. “How are we going to defeat Predictevility?”

Reverser placed the glider-book onto his hip, where a magic paper clasp unfolded from his suit and secured the book to him. “He's not too powerful,” the hero said. “His only offensive capability is sucking people up with a crystal ball, which I'm guessing is also his Akuma.”

“Yeah, but he can fly,” Might said. “And, as we just figured out three minutes ago, he can fly a lot better than we can.”

“So we have to ground him first,” Ladybug said.

“Any ideas on how to do that?” Chat Noir asked.

“We're about to find out,” Ladybug said. “Lucky Charm!”

A box of matches appeared in her hands.

Might raised his eyebrows. “Are we going to set him on fire? I like your style!”

A loud crash snapped them back to reality. The heroes rushed to the window to see the last fades of mist disappear from the driver's seat of a truck. The truck had parked itself sideways into the window of a florists shopping, dumping large canisters of gasoline onto the ground.

“I've been working on something for my reversions,” Reverser said. “I still haven't tried it and there's a possibility that it might kill me but-”

“Maybe now isn't the best time to go testing theories that might kill you,” Might hissed.

Ladybug glanced around, her eyes flicking from object to object in the way that the other heroes had come to recognize as her scheming ability.

“Chat Noir, I don't trust your impulse control, but take this anyway,” she said, handing the matches to him. “Reverser, Might, I need you to find a vase. I'll distract Predictevility.”

“Why can't I just draw a vase?” Might asked.

“Because the light will draw his attention,” Ladybug explained. “We need cover to make our plan work.”

Predictevility hovered above the school. “I know you're in there,” he spat. “Come on out and face your future!”

Ladybug jumped onto the roof. “I think my destiny includes your defeat!” She declared.

Predictevility laughed. “Let's test the fates, then.”

Chat Noir jumped out, running towards the gasoline canisters. “Cataclysm!” He swiped his hand across the barrels, spilling gasoline out into the street. “Take this!” With a swift flick of his wrist, he lit the match, dropped it, and used his baton to lift himself out of the way before the match hit gasoline vapor and the world began to burn in a flash of thick, black smoke.

Predictevility reared away, coughing. Under the cover of smoke, Reverser and Mightillustrator dashed through the streets and into the florist's shop. Reverser made sure to stay as far as possible from the fire.

“I still can't believe you thought Predictevility's outfit was bad,” Might said once they entered the building. “Haven't you ever heard of damask textiles before?”

Reverser grabbed a glass vase, pulling out the contents. “Here, take these flowers,” he said, shoving the petals into Mightillustrator's hands.

“Awwww, for me?” Mightillustrator held them to his chest. “You shouldn't have. I'm flattered.”

“They're get well soon flowers for the throw-down we're going to have after this is done,” Reverser deadpanned. “Too many patterns ruin the overall look.”

“How can someone as pretty as you have such bad taste?” Might shook his head, dropping the flowers into the pocket dimension of his tablet. “It's a shame, really.”

“Take this vase,” Reverser said, upending the water from the glass vase and shoving it into Might's hand. “You'll need to do this.”

“Why do I have to be the one to fly through fire?”

“Because my costume is made of paper.” Reverser patted Mightillustrator on the back in an unsympathetic manner. “Good luck.”

Predictevility coughed as he rose above the smoke. “Did you really think you could fool me, Ladybug? Your miraculous are mine!”

“Oh really?” Chat Noir hopped onto the smoking remains of the truck, surrounded by fire and smoke. “Come and take it then. Or are you too afraid of fire to-”

Predictevility suddenly dove down into the smoke, grabbing Chat Noir's arm. The crystal ball sparked and the cat hero was gone in a puff of smoke.

“Sorry, kitty,” Predictevility said. “I don't play by your rules.”

“Chat Noir!” Ladybug yelled. “No!”

Predictevility raised his hands into the sky. “With this power I can make a true prophecy!” He cackled. Storm clouds began to gather, the wind blowing like a hurricane, pushing the smoke away from him. “Futurae! Tell me a secret from the future!”

The heroes struggled to keep balance as the winds rose to an even greater speed, extinguishing the flames and tearing holes in the walls and buildings.

Predictevility's hands dropped. “Oh,” he said, his eyes wide and glassy as he stared at something only he could see.

And then suddenly the winds were gone. Ladybug and Mightillustrator rushed forward at the same time, knocking him to the ground. The Akuma kicked Ladybug away.

“I must know more,” he gasped, clutching the ball and pointing a finger at Might. “Give me your power!”

Nothing happened.

“Yeah,” Ladybug said, holding the crystal ball in her hands. “I predicted you might need this, so we switched it out with a vase.”

She dropped the crystal ball on the ground. Instead of shattering, it bounced and started to roll away.

“Oh come on,” Ladybug hissed. “It's not even real glass? One second.” She chased after it as it began to pick up speed traveling down the street. “Goddammit-”

Reverser walked up to Might and helped him pin the struggling Akuma down. “The prophecy,” he said. “What did you see?”

Predictevility spat in his face. “I'm not telling you.”

“You like keeping secrets?” Reverser summoned his airplane. “I don't have time to play those kinds of games. Reversion.”

Predictevility's eyes grew wide with fear as Reverser pushed the airplane into his head. He thrashed violently against Might's grip.

“The prophecy. What did it say?” Reverser leaned closer. “Tell me, now.”

The Akuma closed his eyes, chest heaving from exertion. “The fates....” he gasped. “The fates decree that within a year, Ladybug will die.”

~oOo~

“Good work, team,” Ladybug said, watching as the last of her miraculous ladybugs flitted out of existence. “Chat Noir, I can't believe I have to tell you this again, but self-sacrifice is not a strategy this team is trying to adopt.”

Chat Noir shrugged. “It all worked out though, right? I have faith that you'll bring me back every time.”

“Still, that's a terrible ideology to adopt,” Ladybug said. “I don't want you all to get too reckless just because I can fix all the damage you do.” She fixed a pointed stare at Mightillustrator.

“Yeah,” Might said, looking down. “Okay.”

“I'll take this man home,” Reverser said, kneeling down to help who the person who had once been Predictevility. “Have a good night, everyone.”

“Night,” the heroes chorused as Reverser left.

Might sat in the alcove of the fixed window, pulling out the flowers Reverser had given him.

“You know, you could just outright say that you like him,” Ladybug said.

“I'm not so sure. He always brushes off my remarks,” Might responded. “I don't know if maybe I'm too subtle, or he's just being nice-”

“I've seen the way you look at him,” Chat Noir said, leaning against his baton. “You aren't subtle.”

Ladybug sat next to Might. “Have you tried expressing your feelings as Nathaniel?”

“I can't,” Might said, hunching his shoulders. “As Mightillustrator I at least have my secret identity to keep me safe, but if I try to ask him out as Nathaniel and he shoots me down-I don't want to lose his friendship a second time.”

“Don't worry,” Chat Noir said. “Whenever you're ready to tell him, we'll be there to support you.”

“Yeah,” Ladybug said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You don't have to be afraid.”

_Within a year, Ladybug will die._

Mightillustrator swallowed the lump in his throat. “Yeah,” he said. “It's just...when something really big comes up, sometimes you don't want to say anything, because you're afraid it's going to change things too much...or not change anything at all.”

“I know,” Ladybug said. “Words are hard.”

Might gave a short laugh.

“But you'll find the right thing to say eventually.” Chat Noir gave him a thumbs up. “You've got time.”

Might's smile faded. “I hope so,” he said, walking inside the shop and setting the flowers back in their vase. “I really do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art for Predictevility:  
> https://dragonchris.tumblr.com/post/628817360756834305/art-for-chapter-ten-of-miracles-tales-of


	11. Alarm Clock

“Run, little rabbit girl, come play chase with me! Hop! Leap! Skip! S-”

“Shhhhut the fuck up!” Bunnix yelled, chasing after her double as the reversed version of her danced and sang like a fool. A very frustrating fool that was taking extreme joy in making Bunnix follow her across the entire city of Paris.

“Don't tell me that's all you got, me!” Reversed Bunnix taunted.

“Oh, I'm just getting warmed up-” A voice spoke in Bunnix's earpiece and she fell silent.

“Hello? Bunnix, where are you?” Reverser said.

Reversed Bunnix put a hand to her ear. “Oh! So you managed to defeat your akumatized friends!” Her voice sounded in the earpiece and Bunnix felt her blood run cold.

“...Bunnix?”

“No, that's not me!” Bunnix called back. “You! How are you on our radio?”

Reversed Bunnix laughed. “Oh, silly, don't you get it? I'm you! I've been listening in to your conversations since you came into range!”

Bunnix silently cursed.

Reverser's voice cut in. “Does that mean Dark Lady and her villains have been listening in on us, too?”

“Nah, Eves changed them to a new system so they could talk to each other without you all hearing,” Reversed Bunnix said. “They told me not to spill the beans.” She grinned widely, skipping along the edge of a rooftop.

Reverser glided up from the alleyway, airplane already in hand. “Maybe you should have some sense of responsibility,” he said. “Reversion!”

Reversed Bunnix tilted her head, letting the airplane fly between her ears. “Not even bothering to sneak up on me? I'm almost disappointed, but at least you did something new!”

“Where's everyone else?” Bunnix asked.

“Fighting the Akumas used up their powers,” Reverser said. “They'll be here in a bit.”

Reversed Bunnix jumped on her toes, clapping her hands together. “A two-on-one fight? How exciting!”

“Yeah,” Reverser said, jumping off his glider and turning it into its journal form to stand next to Bunnix. “It'd be really convenient for you to pick us both off now, before help arrives.”

Bunnix gave Reverser a panicked look similar to a mother watching her child try to eat bugs. “What are you doing?”

“You'd be doing exactly what Dark Lady wants,” Reverser continued, stepping forward. “Not to mention you'd be doing it the easy way, too.”

Reverser was standing directly in front of Reversed Bunnix. The mad rabbit hero towered over him, eyes unblinking, watching him like a feral animal watches a runaway house cat.

“So you could do this the _boring_ way,” Reverser said, spreading his arms wide. “Or you could take a five-minute breather and find out just how fun high stakes can-”

“You think reverse psychology is going to work on me?” Reversed Bunnix laughed. With blinding speed, her umbrella shot forward, right into Reverser's stomach-

-and passed through.

“Nope,” Reverser answered, as orange mist pooled from his gut. “I just needed to distract you.”

A black and white hand reached through the illusion and grabbed Reversed Bunnix's umbrella. “Reversion.”

There was a flash of black dots as the airplane materialized from his hand and instantly disintegrated again into the umbrella. Reversed Bunnix dropped the umbrella, reeling, as the illusion of Reverser dissipated and the real Reverser appeared a few inches behind the mirage.

Future Bunnix collapsed on the ground, holding her head in her hands.

“You....” Bunnix paused for a second, before suddenly surging forwards and wrapping her arms around Reverser in a bear hug. “You fucking mad lad! I knew you could do it!”

“Gah! Let go!” Reverser's feet kicked as Bunnix lifted the smaller hero off the ground. “Can't breathe! Help!” He tried to twist out of Bunnix's grip, but the rabbit hero had surprisingly sturdy arms.

Rena Rouge leapt up the side of the building. “Not bad,” she said, twirling her flute in her fingers. “I'd say we make an alright team.”

“Rena! Help! She's squishing me!”

Rena, with all the instincts of a big sister, laughed and made no move to help.

“Oh dear,” Future Bunnix said, shaking her head and making her ears flop all over the place. “Oh, fuck. What happened to me?” A sound like an alarm rang in her pocket, and she reached in, pulling out a piece of paper. “What's this?”

“You were-”

“I was reversed,” Future Bunnix said, skimming the paper. “Yeah. One sec, I'll be back. I just need to remember some things first.”

The burrow flashed and she was gone.

Rena Rouge scoffed. “Rude.”

The burrow opened again. “I said I was only going to be gone a sec,” Future Bunnix replied, stepping back out. “And I was. No need to call me rude.”

“What were you doing?”

“You'll learn soon enough,” Future Bunnix said with a wink. “Thanks for bringing me back, Verse.”

Reverser pouted, still trapped in Bunnix's hold. “Don't call me Verse,” he grumbled. Bunnix set him back down on the ground, ruffling his hair and knocking his hood down. Reverser made an offended choking noise, stepping away and pulling his hood back over his face.

Future Bunnix chuckled. “It's good to be back,” she said. “But I'm afraid your job isn't done yet.”

“Right,” Rena Rouge said. “All these Akumas are still loose, and our friends are probably fighting Dark Lady and her villains right now.”

“Speaking of which,” Reverser hugged the journal to his chest. “How...how did this happen?”

Bunnix shook her head. “It's the future,” she said. “You aren't supposed to-”

“No,” Future Bunnix said, raising a hand to stop her past self. “It's okay this time. We showed them-or, we will, once the rest of the team gets here.”

Bunnix closed her mouth. “Okay then.”

~oOo~

_Approximately ???????? days in the future_

“Woah!” King Monkey stretched his legs out as far as the seat would allow him. “Is this what it's like to be famous?”

“It's like a hotel,” Carapace breathed, opening the door to a lounge area. “But like, 30,000 feet in the air.”

One of the flight attendants entered the room with a smile and a bottle of wine. “Would our heroes like to enjoy a glass of Domaine Leflaive Montrachet Grand Cru?”

Mightillustrator started to raise his hand with a mischievous grin.

“No,” Ladybug said, immediately shooting him a withering glare.

Might slowly lowered his hand and turned to Reverser, who was fighting to keep from laughing.

“I'll take a glass,” Bunnix said, shooting the attendant a winning smile.

“Don't overdo it,” Ryuko warned. “We should be keeping alert.”

Bunnix shrugged. “I'm an adult,” she said. “I know my limits. Besides, I'm not going to throw away a chance to drink expensive wine-this is free, right?”

“All expenses have been paid for by Mayor Bourgeois,” the attendant replied.

Bunnix relaxed into the seat. “Perfect,” she said.

Ladybug walked the length of the plane, keeping an eye on the rest of the group and subconsciously memorizing exits and random items that could be useful in a fight. Force of habit from being a superhero that relied on being resourceful to win.

Mayor Bourgeois was in his own separate area. Apparently the fun of dealing with eleven magic teenagers didn't appeal to him.

Mightillustrator and Reverser were in the lounge. Reverser was writing in a non-magical journal and Might was drawing flowers and fireworks and anything that could possibly distract his friend. Reverser, to his credit, was not distracted.

Pegasus and Chat Noir were playing chess on the other side of the lounge. Chat Noir was losing badly.

Mightillustrator had now gotten bored of trying to distract Reverser and was now erasing pieces of Chat Noir's hair, trying to see how short he could get it before the cat hero noticed.

Viperion sat on his own, idly plucking at the strings on his lute.

King Monkey was exploring all the buttons and functions around his seat. Bunnix relaxed into her chair with a glass of very expensive wine.

Carapace and Rena Rouge were examining the gaming consoles and sound systems installed in yet another room.

Ryuko was standing at the window, looking back at the aerial view of France.

“Hey,” Ladybug said, standing beside her. “How are you feeling about this?”

“It feels reckless to leave,” Ryuko said. “But if you trust that Bunnix will do her part, then I trust your judgment, Ladybug.”

“Good,” Ladybug said. “I'm glad you're-”

The plane lurched, a quick-paced alarm beeping over the speakers.

“What was that?” Reverser ran out of the lounge, followed by Mightillustrator.

Might groaned. “Please tell me that was just turbulence.”

Ryuko quickly strode to the windows on the other side of the plane. “Afraid not,” she said. “We've got company!”

Ladybug rushed to the window. Following behind them at a janky, irregular pace was a blue and purple cat-like creature with long, tapered human fingers. It bounded after them, blinking in and out of existence, falling and suddenly appearing closer, falling and appearing closer, chasing the plane across the sky with little popping noises every time it teleported.

“What is that?” Carapace pressed his face up against the window.

“I'm not sure,” Chat Noir answered. “But it looks like it's trying to bring the plane-”

The plane lurched again, lights flickering.

The flight attendant opened the door, their face battling between professionalism and panic with rapid speed. “Pardon me, but something is attacking the plane's engines. We won't be able to stay in the air for much longer!”

“Pegasus,” Ladybug said. “Be ready to use your voyage! We're grounding this plane, now!” She turned to the flight attendant. “Have the pilot prepare to land!”

The flight attendant nodded and rushed off.

“Chat Noir! I need you to find out what's destroying the engines,” Ladybug commanded. Chat Noir nodded and rushed off.

There was another jolt, and the plane suddenly tilted into a steep decline. Bunnix dropped her wine glass and grabbed Viperion as he lost his footing. “There's no time!” She yelled over the sound of the sputtering engine and blaring alarms. “We have to teleport, now!”

There was a loud popping noise, and the cat-like creature appeared inside the plane, its long tail curling around the edge of King Monkey's seat and grinning a wide, toothy smile, eyes completely dilated.

“Pegasus!”

“Voy-”

The creature popped, landing on Pegasus' shoulders. Long fingers dug into his arms, and Pegasus cried out in pain, interrupting the creation of his teleportation circle. Another pop and they were gone.

“Crap!” Rena Rouge grabbed Carapace by the waist. “We need a shelter!” She yelled.

Another pop, a flash of blue and purple, and Carapace disappeared from Rena Rouge's arms.

“What do we do?”

Pop. Viperion was gone.

The plane was leaning at a steeper angle now, forcing the occupants to hold onto handlebars and seats to keep their footing.

Pop.

“Might!” Reverser dove for Mightillustrator, grabbing him around the waist and knocking him out of the way as the creature reached for him with long, spider-like fingers. Fingers snatched air and the creature hissed, tail thrashing.

Might made a quick sketch as they fell, encasing the creature in a glass sphere. The two heroes hit the wall and Reverser grabbed a seat with his arms, wrapping his legs around Might's torso to keep him from falling.

“Did I get it?” Might looked up at the ball rolling their way, and the creature scrabbling around inside of it.

The creature popped and the sphere was empty.

“Dammit!”

Bunnix looked out the window. “We're gonna be landing soon!” She yelled.

“Crashing,” Reverser corrected.

“Ryuko, use your wind dragon to slow our fall!” Ladybug ordered.

Pop. Ryuko was gone before she could respond.

“I think the creature is targeting people you want to use,” King Monkey yelled.

“Great theory!” Mightillustrator clung to Reverser like a lifeline. “Won't be much help in about ten seconds!”

“Brace for impact!”

Bunnix grabbed her umbrella and dove for Ladybug.

Rena Rouge and King Monkey clung to the sides of the plane.

Reverser wrapped his arms around Might, using his glider as a shield.

The world didn't even have the chance to burn before it went dark.

~oOo~

Ladybug coughed as her lungs took in smoke-filled air.

She rolled over, eyes half open and blurry as something on her chest disappeared into thin air.

“What?”

Ladybug sat up, shaking her head as the world came into focus. The plane burned around her, scattered in bits and pieces.

She slowly got to her feet, ignoring the way her left leg screamed in agony. The suit had protected her from being impaled, but the brunt force of hitting the ground had definitely caused injury.

“Hello?”

The wind whistled in reply, blowing ash and smoke into her face.

“Chat Noir?”

No response.

Something shifted in the rubble. Ladybug turned to it, her heart leaping in her chest. “Who's there?”

The blue and purple creature scurried out from under a plate of metal, tail swishing in the air. It fixed large black pupils ringed with gold on her, long fingers curling into the dust.

Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo. “What are you?” She said. “Are you an Akuma? An Amok?”

The creature scratched one of its ears with a hind leg. Ladybug watched it as it crawled over to a piece of metal, touched it, and popped it away to the left a few feet, dropping the metal plating onto the ground with a crash.

Ladybug bit back a scream.

Rena Rouge's body was barely visible under the mess of burning scrap and broken glass. Her face was turned into the ground, neck twisted at an impossible angle from the rest of her body, half of which was still covered in rubble.

She wasn't moving.

“No!” Ladybug rushed towards her.

The creature jumped on her leg, popping, teleporting her back to the center of the circle.

“Let me go!” Ladybug screamed, throwing the creature off of her and dashing towards the fox hero. Another pop, and she was back in the circle.

“Alya!” Tears were running down Ladybug's face. “Alya, get up!” She screamed, already rushing back towards her friend.

Ladybug's leg gave out beneath her and she fell, chin hitting the ground and body scraping against rock and dirt and metal and glass and blood. She couldn't get up.

The creature chirped, blinking innocently at her.

“Go away!” Ladybug covered her face with her hands, chest heaving as she sobbed. One arm swiped across the dust to hit the creature, but it teleported out of the way. “Go!”

The creature trotted to another pile of burning wreckage. Through her tear-blurred eyes, Ladybug could make out the shape of an arm.

“No,” she sobbed, lying in the dirt. “Stop this.”

Deaf to her begging, the creature began to teleport wreckage away from the pile. King Monkey's limp body rolled out, eyes open and bloodshot, his face purple from suffocation.

“Oh god,” she whispered, hiding her face in the ground.

The creature teleported around her, popping and occasionally chirruping at her. She could hear metal being moved, but she didn't look. She couldn't. She didn't want to know.

“Stop,” she whispered into the earth. “Please stop.”

The creature trotted up to her, placing long fingers on her head, stroking her hair. There was a pop, and she was gone, far away from the wreckage, from everything that hurt her.

A little purple butterfly descended towards her.

Ladybug curled up on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. Everything hurt in the way where nothing could ever stop hurting again, where there was no relief, no rest, just pain that had become so much a part of her mind and body that to remove it would be to remove a part of herself.

She couldn't save them.

She didn't save them and it was her fault.

She was the reason they were there. She was the reason they were dead.

The butterfly landed on her earrings and disappeared.

“Dark Lady,” a voice crooned in her ear.

Ladybug stilled.

“You can bring them back,” Hawkmoth whispered sympathetically. “Your friends don't have to stay dead. With _your_ miraculous, you're already halfway there.”

With shaky breaths, Ladybug rose to her feet.

“I am giving you the power to keep your remaining allies loyal to you,” Hawkmoth said. “Every hero that you touch will follow you as you follow me. But you won't be doing this alone. Chessur will make sure that no one can escape your reach. All I ask is that when you are done, you bring both your miraculous to me, so that I may fulfill my own wish.”

Dark Lady's eyes turned black. The creature hopped onto her shoulder with a chirp. “I'll find Chat Noir,” she said, her voice emotionless and cold. “Whatever it takes, Hawkmoth.”

“Good.”

~oOo~

“Hey,” Reverser said, leaning against his glider like a crutch as he walked. “I don't know if we'll be able to find the rest of our friends.”

“We found each other, didn't we?” Might held the other side of the glider with one hand, breathing heavily. “If we follow the smoke, we'll get to the source eventually.”

“I know, but...” Reverser winced as his foot caught on a rock and he stumbled a little. “What if we don't find anyone? What if they're gone, or...”

“They're strong,” Mightillustrator assured him. “They're stronger than we are. If we survived, then they can too, easy.”

Reverser chuckled a little. “I hope so.” His smile faded, and his voice quieted. “God, I hope so.”

There was a popping sound. Reverser and Mightillustrator whirled around to see Dark Lady, the creature curled around her shoulders like a scarf.

“Ladybug!” Might gasped, face lighting up. “You're...what happened to your eyes?”

“It doesn't matter,” Dark Lady said, her voice smooth and even. She stepped forward. “Take my hand.”

Might stepped backwards, instantly alarmed. “Nope.”

“Hard pass,” Reverser said. “You're being sketchy as fuck right now, so...”

Dark Lady sighed. “Chessur.”

The creature disappeared and reappeared on Mightillustrator's arm.

“Ah!” Might found himself suddenly teleported next to Dark Lady. She grabbed his arm, and he froze.

“Might?” Reverser stepped backwards. “What's going on?”

“Evillustrator,” Dark Lady said. “Join me.”

The artist's shoulders relaxed, and he gave a curt nod.

“Shit,” Reverser gasped, swinging up onto his glider and speeding away. “Shit, shit, shit,”

Chessur popped, grabbing his glider and disappearing with it. Reverser felt his heart jump into his throat as his glider vanished from under his feet and he fell. His back hit the ground, pushing the air out of his lungs.

“From wake to sleep,” Reverser gasped, trying to scramble to his feet. His arms didn't move, and he fell back to the ground again.

Reverser looked down to see that his hands were shackled to the ground. Evillustrator lifted his pen off his tablet.

“I don't want to fight you,” Evillustrator said, kneeling next to the struggling hero. “Join us, friend.”

Reverser struggled against the shackles. “Might, snap out of it! She's an Akuma!”

Dark Lady stepped forward as Evillustrator shook his head.

“Sorry, but I'm not Mightillustrator anymore,” he said, stepping away. “But you'll see. We can still work together this way, an unstoppable team as always.”

Dark Lady crouched down and placed her hand of Reverser's shoulder. “A new persona needs a new name,” she said, as Reverser stopped struggling, his eyes glazing over. “Revisionist. Join us.”

“What, no new name for me?” Evillustrator put his hands on his hips.

“Your powers and loyalties have not changed from when you were an Akuma,” Dark Lady said as she stood up. “You don't need a new name.”

Evillustrator nodded. “Fair enough.”

Revisionist's head snapped up, and he glared at Evillustrator. “I'd rather not be handcuffed to the ground,” he hissed.

The artist smiled, deftly erasing the cuffs in a swift motion. “Oh, don't be shy,” he said. “I personally think you look good in handcuffs.”

“Shut it,” Revisionist said, getting to his feet.

Evillustrator shrugged. “If you say so.”

~oOo~

Bunnix wandered through the arid landscape, using her umbrella to shield her eyes from the sun. Half of the airplane's smoking remains were scattered around her.

“Hello?” Bunnix circled the wreckage. “Is anyone there?”

“Bunnix? Bunnix!” Chat Noir poked his head up from behind the remains of a wing. “We're okay! Where are Ladybug and the others?”

“Oh thank fuck.” Bunnix ran to Chat Noir. “Who's with you? What happened?”

“I was trying to get to the engine when the plane crashed,” Chat Noir said. “Luckily the flight attendant-their name is Jess, by the way-is very well trained in these kinds of situations so no one's dead, but the pilot has a broken leg and Mayor Bourgeois passed out. Jess is taking care of them now and I've been trying to find the rest of the group.”

“Any luck?”

Chat Noir's ears drooped. “None,” he said. “It's like the other half of the plane just vanished.”

There was a distant pop. Chat Noir's instantly whirled, goosebumps rising on the back of his neck. “That thing's nearby,” he said.

Bunnix nodded. “Keep quiet.”

“Bunnix!”

The bunny hero looked back to see her artist friend waving as he approached.

“Might! Stay low,” she warned. “The creature could be anywhere-”

A block of cement formed around her foot.

“What?”

Evillustrator shrugged. “Sorry, bunny,” he said. “We can't have you hopping away now.”

“Cataclysm!” Chat Noir grabbed the cement, crumbling it into magic blue flecks. “Might, what the fuck?”

Revisionist glided up from behind a cracked window. “Not bad,” he said, clapping slowly. “Though I still think we should have gotten more heroes before going for Chat Noir.”

“Chessur can only teleport one person at a time, it'd be too much trouble,” Evillustrator said. “Besides, Chat Noir's already used his powers. We don't need more people.”

Chessur gave a flick of their tail and a whistle, ears pricking up.

“Go on,” Revisionist said. “Bring her here.”

Chessur popped away.

Chat Noir took a fighting stance. “Don't think we're just going to let you...uh...do whatever you're planning!”

Bunnix closed her umbrella with a snap, holding it like a weapon. “Why are you two doing this? We're on the same side!”

“Let's just say Revisionist and I are taking an alternate route,” Evillustrator said. “Hand over Chat Noir and we'll let you go.”

“Revisionist...? What about your duty? You have a responsibility to protect Paris from Hawkmoth!”

Revisionist groaned. “You're too uptight about what you can and can't do,” he said. “You should be more carefree, follow your own rabbit hole.” A paper airplane appeared in his fingers.

Bunnix bared her teeth. “If you think I'm going to just stand down and let you win then-”

“Bunnix!” Chat Noir grabbed the bunny hero's arm and yanked her away as Chessur and Dark Lady appeared. Dark Lady swiped for her and missed.

“Burrow!” Bunnix summoned a rabbit hole. “Chat Noir, go!”

“What?”

“Chessur, stop him!” Dark Lady hissed.

“M'Lady, what's going on?”

Bunnix swung her umbrella down as Chessur appeared on Chat Noir's shoulder. The blunt end of her umbrella caught the creature in the chest, impaling it into the ground. There was a snap as an object inside the creature's body crumbled from the impact.

Chessur screamed, long fingers and back paws scrabbling against the umbrella as its body began to flake away.

Evillustrator began to draw, but before he could create anything, Chat Noir threw his baton, knocking the pen out of his hands.

Dark Lady lunged for Chat Noir.

Bunnix swung her umbrella up, the remains of Chessur still hanging off of the tip, and caught Dark Lady in the chin, sending her sprawling several feet away.

Chat Noir jumped into the portal.

“Reversion!” Bunnix gasped as a paper airplane hit her in the ribs. With the last seconds of rational thought, she snapped her fingers and the burrow closed.

A little feather floated from Chessur's body, meandering into the sky.

Reversed Bunnix stared up at it. “Oh, I'll save you for later,” she said, creating another burrow with a careless wave of her arm. The feather floated into it and disappeared.

“He's gone,” Revisionist said. “I told you we should have gotten more heroes.”

“Fuck!” Dark Lady slammed her fist into the ground. “You! Bunnix!”

“That's my name,” Reversed Bunnix said, eyes wide like a madman. “But I could change it if you like. How about Time Hopper?”

“Oh, so _you're_ allowed to change your name,” Evillustrator grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Where did you send Chat Noir?” Dark Lady dusted the dirt off her suit as she stood, looking like she was ready to strangle the next person who tried to get in her way.

Reversed Bunnix shrugged. “I sent him somewhere. Does it matter? He'll be back eventually. Or not.”

If looks could kill, Dark Lady's inky black eyes would have committed genocide.

Evillustrator picked up his pen from the ground. “Bunnix, could you take us to Chat Noir?” He asked.

“Oh! Yes, of course!” Bunnix waved her arm and a burrow appeared, revealing an airport and a group of superheroes on the other side.

“That's...us,” Evillustrator leaned forward. “When was this?”

“It doesn't matter,” Revisionist said. “Look, there's Chat Noir.”

Dark Lady grabbed her yo-yo. “Bring him here,” she ordered.

“From perceptive to naive,” Revisionist said. “You'll follow us without question. Reversion!” He threw the airplane into the portal.

“Whoah!” The Chat Noir on the other side flipped backwards, and Revisionist's airplane flew over his head.

“Next plan,” Revisionist said. “Evillustrator, let's go.” They stepped into the portal.

Reversed Bunnix began to skip away, towards the wreckage of the airplane's second half.

“Where do you think you're-” Dark Lady began, but Bunnix was already far away, searching through the burning rubble.

A portal opened. “Hello, me,” Another Bunnix said, leaning out of the burrow with a frown.

“Hello!” Reversed Bunnix waved back. “What brings you to my timespace?”

The other Bunnix sighed. “I have something to show you,” she said, putting a conspiratorial finger over her lips as she pulled Reversed Bunnix into the burrow. “Look!”

The other Bunnix waved her hand over a portal looking down on their place. The portal blurred, showing Ladybug collapsed on the ground as Chessur sat on her chest, kneading its paws into her collarbone and mewling.

They watched as Ladybug woke up, scanning the ground for the rest of the heroes. They watched as Chessur showed Ladybug her dead friends, as Ladybug screamed and cried and broke. Reversed Bunnix giggled. It wasn't like Ladybug to sprawl and beg in the dirt like that, it was almost funny.

Chessur hopped onto her back and they popped away.

“Look at this,” the other Bunnix said. “This is what's interesting.”

Sitting at the edge of the wreckage was Volpina, her flute in hand. Chessur popped back next to her, rubbing against the villain's arm. Ladybug was nowhere in sight.

Volpina nodded and pulled the fox necklace from her neck. With a snap, the necklace broke, releasing an Akuma into the air. Several of the metal plates in the wreckage began to shift and blur like a heatwave in the sun. Slowly, King Monkey and Rena Rouge's bodies disappeared into a gust of orange mist, leaving behind a much smaller but emptier wreckage.

Chessur made a chittering sound as the un-purified Akuma spiraled into the air aimlessly, before finding a direction and heading towards it, towards a superhero curled up on the ground. The Akuma circled over Ladybug, lower, and lower-

“Do you see now?” the other Bunnix said. “This was all planned.”

Reversed Bunnix nodded, grinning widely. “I wonder if Mayura can bring Chessur back,” she said. “We have his feather! He could be our friend!”

“No.” The other Bunnix shook her head. “Mayura's sick. She's too weak to hold an Amok for this long after, and she was too weak before this started.”

“Some other time, then,” Reversed Bunnix said, skipping back out of the portal. “See you later?”

“Or never,” the other Bunnix replied, almost as an afterthought, closing the burrow and disappearing.

Reversed Bunnix turned to the still-open portal. Dark Lady was holding Ladybug to the ground-apparently a non-villainized Ladybug made for a better hostage-and the rest of the heroes and villains looked like they were waiting for an alarm to be set off.

Oh well. Time to see how stable time really is.

Or was.

Or will be.

If it ever happened at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art of my little cute/creepy boi Chessur:  
>  https://dragonchris.tumblr.com/post/628906057408954368/art-for-chapter-eleven-of-miracles-stories-of


	12. Reverser and Marc

_Approximately One Month before the Present Day_

“Hey, Marc!”

Marc jolted awake. “Huh? Yes? Sorry, I...”

Nathaniel grinned and flicked a wad of paper at him. “You were dozing off,” he said.

“Right.” Marc hunched his shoulders. “Sorry.”

“You don't have to be sorry,” Nathaniel assured him. “I mean, I'm usually the one dozing off, so it's not like I can blame you for having a day off. Have you been sleeping alright?”

What was Marc supposed to say? That he'd been practicing with his reversions to the point where he'd nearly passed out from exhaustion?

“I'm fine,” he said, flashing Nathaniel what he hoped was a cute and winning smile.

Nathaniel yawned. “Speaking of dozing off,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “I wouldn't mind a short break. What do you think?”

Marc looked over the table, at the sketches and writings jumbled together in messy strands across the entire table. “Sure,” he said, starting to sort them into neat, portable stacks. “Any plans?”

“The park's a good place,” Nathaniel said. “Maybe some fresh air will help.”

“Maybe.”

Alix, who had been sitting on the other side of the room with her phone, looked up. “Don't stay too long,” she said. “Remember, you promised you'd let me rant about Jalil's new Greek Mythology phase after school.”

“I know,” Nathaniel said, nodding. “We won't be long.”

The art teacher gave them a nod as they got up from their seats. “Leaving so soon?” He asked amicably.

“Just taking a quick walk,” Nathaniel answered.

“Be safe,” the man said with a smile.

Marc smiled back. The art room, once unfamiliar and nerve-wracking, had become like a second home to him after months of work. Several of his and Nath's already published issues were neatly stacked in a bookshelf, alongside a few inspired works by other members of the art club. Marc smiled as his eyes fell on the Mightillustrator and Reverser dolls that Marinette had made to add to what the Art Club now called “the hero shrine”.

If only the club knew that one of the heroes was one of their very own. What would Nathaniel think if he knew that Marc was Reverser?

There had been times when Marc was almost desperate to tell him, like when Nathaniel had gushed over Reverser's introductory issue, or when he'd told Marc in confidence that Reverser was secretly his favorite of the superheroes, or when he'd shown Marc the official superhero posters that he'd drawn for merchandise, with each hero getting an individual poster.

Nathaniel stuck his hands in his pockets as they walked down the steps of the school. “So, if I asked you to rank the four main superheroes from best to worst,” he began, “what would you rank them?”

Marc laughed. “I can't,” he said. “I have to write for all of them, so they each have a special place in my heart.”

“But there aren't any heroes that you prefer over the others? No favorites?”

“Do _you_ have a ranking system for your favorite superheroes?” Marc raised an eyebrow.

“Easy,” Nathaniel said. “Reverser, Ladybug, Mightillustrator, and Chat Noir.”

Even though he already knew the first one, Marc felt his heart jump a little. “Reverser in first place, huh?” He said, trying to sound casual.

“Yeah! I like his design, his powers, his personality-he's really interesting, not just as a character in our stories, but as a real person!” Nathaniel beamed. “I'd love to meet him one day.”

Marc felt his face steadily heating up. “So,” he coughed. “What about the others?”

“Well, Ladybug does save Paris on a regular basis,” Nathaniel said. “So credit where credit's due, I guess.”

“Yeah, but I thought Mightillustrator would be higher on the list for you. I mean, an artist hero? That's right up your alley!”

Nathaniel nodded. “You have a point. Yeah, Might takes number two. And it's not like I don't like Chat Noir, it's just process of elimination puts him at the bottom.”

Marc gave a sympathetic smile in consideration of his cat superhero friend. “Rest in peace, Chat Noir,” he said.

“Eh, I've seen what fans make on the internet,” Nathaniel said, shrugging. “Chat Noir gets his fair share of love.”

“Oh God.”

“You think that's bad?” Nathaniel gave a half-laugh. “Some people in the school have asked _me_ to do commissions.”

“Oh God!” Marc laughed. “Wait, how bad are...?”

“You don't want to know.”

“I mean...I kinda do though.”

“Trust me, you don't. The things I do for money....” Nathaniel shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. “I've done sinful things.”

Marc's brain was in a hundred different places, and some of those places were going steadily downhill to gutter-town quicker than he preferred.

“Okay,” he said, laughing in a way that was supposed to sound like a wow-that's-funny-cool-story-bro laugh but sounded more like a my-crush-has-probably-drawn-questionable-content-of-my-hero-self-and-I-don't-know-how-to-feel-about-that laugh.

“Do you wanna grab something to eat on the way?” Nathaniel asked. “Marinette's family makes the best pastries.”

“Sure,” Marc said, thankful that Nathaniel hadn't noticed anything about his slight mental breakdown. Or if he did, he hadn't said anything about it.

Marc and Nathaniel internally groaned when they saw the line in the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie.

“It's not too long,” Marc said, blatantly lying.

“Yeah,” Nathaniel said, stepping inside. “Besides, it's worth it for the cookies.”

As the line steadily began to build behind them, Marc quickly found that the little store owned by the Dupain-Chengs was not built with long lines in mind. He shied away from the strangers around him as they pressed closer, as though being physically nearer to the counter would make the line go faster.

Marc found himself pressing against Nathaniel, his heart beating erratically as they were squished together by the crowd. Nathaniel, finding his arm in an uncomfortable position, wrapped it around Marc's waist, drawing them even closer together than they were before.

“Sorry,” Marc said, turning red.

“It's okay,” Nathaniel said, staring straight ahead at the line in front of them. The artist's fingers tensed and Marc barely managed to keep an embarrassed squeak from escaping his lips at the touch.

The store was well air-conditioned, but Marc felt like he was going to crawl out of his skin from the heat in his face and neck and especially where Nathaniel had his _hand on his hip jesus fuck-_

The distant sound of screaming snapped him out of his thoughts.

“What's going on?” Nathaniel asked, craning his neck to look out the window.

Several dark stone pillars were rising from the ground, cracking the cement and dirt in regular intervals, large black bricks flying from the air to create tall walls between them as they rose higher and higher into the air.

“Dammit,” Marc whispered.

“Is that an Akuma?” Marinette's mom said, freezing while in the process of passing a paper bag to a customer.

“I...uh...I just remembered that I left...one of my journals. In my locker.” Marc quickly rifled through his pockets and pulled out few euros, shoving them into Nathaniel's hands. “Get something with chocolate, I'll be back soon bye.”

Nathaniel only gaped as Marc shoved his way back through the line and ran out the door, ducking quickly into an alleyway. The stone walls were now beginning to rise over the buildings, casting shadows over the area.

Marc pulled out his journal. There was a flash of black and white, and Reverser glided back out of the alley just as Nathaniel burst through the doors of the bakery.

The two locked eyes and Reverser internally panicked.

What if he said the wrong thing? What if Nathaniel figured out that he was Marc? What if he talked with Nathaniel and Nathaniel thought that he was lame and decided Reverser was actually the worst superhero after all and-

“Hey, uh...” Nathaniel scratched the back of his neck. “Nice...to meet you?”

“Oh! Uh, yeah,” Reverser said, hoping the lower octaves of his voice disguised the way his voice was trembling. “You're the comic book artist, right? Good stuff!”

“Thanks!” Nathaniel gave Reverser a thumbs up, “I...uh...I should g-”

“You should get back inside,” Reverser said. “It's not safe out here.”

“Right, but my friend,” Nathaniel started making vague hand motions. “He's...uh...”

“Reverser!” Ladybug hopped over the bakery roof, followed by Chat Noir. “Thank goodness we found you.”

“Where's Might?” Reverser asked as the two jumped down onto the pavement.

Chat Noir's lips spread in a long, thin line across his face. “Hmmm. He's not here right now.”

“What do you mean?”

Chat Noir threw an arm around Reverser's shoulders, an awkward thing to do since Reverser was floating several inches above the ground. “Hey, Reverser,” he said in a totally normal way. “How about we go and try to find the Akuma while Ladybug takes Nathaniel over there to safety?”

Reverser gave him an odd look. “Are you feeling okay?” He turned to Ladybug. “Is he okay? He's being weird again.”

Ladybug sighed. “Yeah. He's fine. You two go on ahead. I have something I need to do first.”

Reverser hesitated, but Chat Noir grabbed his hand and pulled him along on his glider. He turned back, waving awkwardly to Nathaniel. Nathaniel gave a shy wave back.

Once Reverser and Chat Noir were out of sight, Ladybug's face turned to a grin. “Sorry for ruining your date,” she joked.

“I had my arm around him,” Nathaniel said, swaying a little as he stared off in the direction they'd gone. “I thought I was going to pass out.”

Ladybug shook her head. “You've got to say something to him sooner or later,” she advised.

“I've tried flirting with him before,” Nath said. “He just brushes it off as a joke. I don't know if he likes me back, but...” A love-struck smile spread across Nathaniel's face. “I'm not giving up yet.”

“Great. Transform already.”

~oOo~

“I'm going to take a wild guess and say that's the Akuma,” Chat Noir said, looking up at the person standing on the wall.

“I'm going to second that,” Reverser said.

The Akuma crossed his winged arms, the light reflecting bronze off of his feathers. A mask with a pair of bull horns fit over his head, large and menacing. His blue-patterned tunic and cloak floated majestically behind him in whatever breeze was whistling above the walls.

“What kind of furry are you supposed to be?” Chat Noir yelled up at the Akuma.

“You're in no position to judge,” Reverser muttered.

“I am Daedalus!” The Akuma bellowed. “The most renowned architect of the Athenians, rivaled only by the Gods of Olympus!”

“Oh, it's Jalil,” Reverser said.

“Really?”

“Yeah, apparently he's been going through this whole Greek phase now for a while.”

“Oh. Hey!” Chat Noir yelled. “If you're looking for feedback I'd say the outfit is pretty impressive but the lack of pants with your dress makes for a very underwhelming presentation overall!”

“It's a tunic!” Reverser and Daedalus said at the same time.

“Look, I'm not judging, I just-”

“ENOUGH!” Daedalus stomped his foot, causing the ground to tremble. “With these ancient writings, I will bring the Underworld to earth and reclaim my son Icarus from the jaws of death!”

“Oh!” Chat Noir's eyes lit up. “You're the maze-building guy!”

If pent up rage had a physical form then Daedalus would have been the poster child. “No,” he hissed. “Mazes are complex, multicursal puzzles with branching pathways. This is a _labyrinth_ , which is unicursal.”

“What?”

“It means there's only one path,” Reverser said. “And I bet we can find the akumatized object at the center of this labyrinth.”

Daedalus laughed at them. “Don't be so confident, now,” he warned. “My labyrinth is full of traps and puzzles that will surely defeat you! And with Reverser and Mightillustrator's magic items, I'll be able to open the gates to the Underworld!”

“Whoa, what?” Reverser blinked. “You want _our_ miraculous?”

“How does it feel being wanted for once?” Chat Noir asked.

“First, ouch. Second, kinda terrifying.”

“After that, I'll take Chat Noir's and Ladybug's miraculous for Hawkmoth!” Daedalus boasted.

“Aaaaaand that's what I was waiting for. Looks like we're irrelevant again.” Reverser soared up on his glider. “Alright you bullshit Percy Jackson ripoff, let's see how well your walls work against someone who can fly.”

Daedalus only smirked as Reverser flew up. The walls began to shift and climb as he neared them, growing taller as he ascended so he couldn't reach the top.

“Damn,” Reverser said, floating back down. “Guess that's out of the question.”

“I'll see you in the center,” the Akuma called. “If you can survive that long!” He hopped off the wall and was gone.

Mightillustrator and Ladybug walked up. “Who was that guy with the tunic?” Ladybug asked.

“Daedalus,” Reverser said. “Jalil Kubdel must really be getting into Greek mythology these days. Apparently he wants Might's and my miraculous, which makes for a change of pace at least.”

“Damn.” Might looked up at the walls surrounding them. “So I guess we have to follow the maze?”

“Labyrinth,” Reverser corrected. “Which means it's just a long walk.”

“With deadly traps,” Chat Noir added.

“With deadly traps.”

Mightillustrator tapped his pen against his head. “Well, we could do things the Akuma's way. Or....” He turned to the wall and started to erase it. “We do things my way.” He gestured to the new hole in the wall.

The stones shifted and blocked the hole he had just made.

Reverser snorted. “Yeah, your way,” He began gliding down the path. “Guess you three don't get to skip leg day.”

“Using your glider is cheating,” Might called, jogging after Reverser.

“Really? I didn't see a rule book,” Reverser called back.

“Oh I'd read it for you, but it's all Greek to me.”

Reverser laughed as he sped away.

~oOo~

“Huh, that lying bastard.”

The heroes stood at a three-way crossroads, looking at the tunnels that stretched into darkness.

“He said this was a labyrinth,” Chat Noir said. “It's clearly a maze.”

“He also said there would be traps,” Reverser said. “Maybe there's only one right answer and the other two lead to...death or something.”

“So it's a puzzle?”

Ladybug pointed to the metal plaque above the tunnels. “I'm guessing that's our clue.”

Might squinted. “What is that?”

Reverser put his hands on his hips. “Writing, probably. I think it's ancient Greek.”

“What does it say?” Chat Noir asked.

“Do you think I know how to read ancient Greek?”

“Well that's fucking perfect,” Might said, striding away.

“Language,” Ladybug scolded.

“First Daeda-whatever the fuck interrupts my...” Might's eyes flicked over to Reverser. “Interrupts the very important thing that I was doing, then he forces us to run the equivalent of an Olympic marathon, and _then_ he gives us puzzles that we can't even solve! He is definitely going on the list as one of my least favorite Akumas.”

“You keep a list?”

“No, but I might start one. And _guess_ who's already in the top five?”

“Daedalus,” Reverser deadpanned.

Might nodded. “Dae-da-fukin-lus.”

Chat Noir poked his head through one of the tunnels. “Does that mean we split up?”

Ladybug crossed her arms. “I don't like that idea.”

“We don't really have a choice,” Reverser said, already gliding towards the left tunnel.

“I'll take right,” Might said.

“Make sure to keep in touch,” Ladybug said, pulling out an earpiece from her yo-yo. The other heroes followed her lead. “Chat Noir, you go with Reverser. I'll take the middle.”

Reverser and Mightillustrator looked at each other.

“How about Chat Noir goes with you?” Reverser said. “You two are a team, after all. And besides, Might and I are used to working alone.”

Ladybug crossed her arms. “Reverser, I don't mean to be rude, but you're the physically weakest out of all of us.”

“I don't need to be strong,” Reverser argued. “I've got my reversions.”

“Your reversions only work on living things,” Chat Noir added. “But if they ever manage to break stone, let me know.”

“I'm siding with Reverser on this one,” Mightillustrator said. “We've been training a lot, and he's much more well-rounded than I think you two realize. Chat Noir, you should go with Ladybug.”

Ladybug gave a puzzled look at Reverser and Mightillustrator. “You two are up to something,” she said.

“We just want to make sure our lucky charm is safe,” Might said. “You're the only one who can purify Akumas, after all.”

“That's kinda suspicious,” Chat Noir said, frowning.

“We don't have time to worry about that,” Mightillustrator hissed. “Besides, we've got the earpieces, so if anything goes wrong we'll just call for help, okay?”

Ladybug sighed. “Alright. But we'll talk about this later,” she said, pointing at the two of them.

“Ready when you are, M'lady,” Chat Noir said, gesturing towards the center tunnel.

Reverser and Mightillustrator watched them go. A long silence passed between the two of them. Reverser's eyes were fixated on the back of Mightillustrator's head, but Mightillustrator refused to look at him.

“We should tell her,” Reverser said.

“I've tried!” Might spat, turning to glare at Reverser. When Reverser didn't react, the defensive anger vanished, replaced with a guilty look. Mightillustrator rubbed his arm, looking at the ground. “I just...I can't. I'm no good with initiating these kinds of things.”

Reverser gave a sympathetic glance to his friend. “I'll do it,” he said. “She needs to know.”

“Thanks,” Might said, smiling at Reverser. “You're incredible.”

Reverser grinned. “Save your flattery for afterwards,” he said. “See you later.”

Might watched Reverser leave. A sigh escaped his lips. “Yeah. Later.”

He stepped into the right tunnel, and the second he stepped in, the tunnel closed behind him, trapping him in complete darkness.

“Well fuck.”

~oOo~

Reverser navigated his way into the dark tunnel as the walls curved overhead, blocking out the sky. Hopefully Mightillustrator would remember to draw a flashlight or something first before he went in.

The tunnel continued on for a while as the ground beneath him changed from street to grass to street again to water to more street. Reverser glided over it all, a wake-to-sleep paper airplane materialized in his hand just in case.

“Might, Ladybug, Chat Noir,” Reverser said, calling over his earpiece. “I'm currently in a long tunnel. What's your status?”

Might called back. “I'm in the dark,” he said.

“Did you remember to draw a light?”

There was a pause. “No,” Might said, a little sheepish. “Well. No idea where I'm going but I hope it's forward.”

“Same here,” Ladybug called back. “Chat Noir, you don't have to hold my hand so tightly.”

“Apologies,” Chat Noir said. “I'm a little claw-strophobic, you see.”

Reverser and Might groaned loudly over the radio.

“No but seriously please hold my hand-”

Reverser cut off the call, continuing the long, maddening path towards...wherever he was going. It was dark in his tunnel, but not completely pitch black. He could just barely see the tunnel turning and what was under his glider, nothing more.

Just when he thought he might lose his mind from the mundane forward motion, a light suddenly flashed in his face, bright and blinding in comparison to the darkness that he had been suffering through.

“Gah! What the fuck!” Reverser placed an arm in front of his face, airplane at the ready.

“Reverser.” Daedalus's voice boomed around him, as though from a loudspeaker.

Reverser blinked as his eyes adjusted, showing the large, empty space where the tunnel ended. “Is this the center?” He asked, looking around for Daedalus.

“No,” the voice responded, and Reverser pinpointed it to a life-size statue of a bull in the center of the arena. Its eyes glowed gold, and its stone maw opened and spoke with Daedalus's voice. “I'm afraid you have fallen into one of my traps.”

Chat Noir called back over the radio, followed by the unmistakable sound of stone being broken and loud roars. “Hey, guys! So, Ladybug and I are probably near the center, but you know how Daedalus was famous for building a labyrinth with a Minotaur? Yeah, guess what apparently comes included in the package deal?! Help!”

Reverser looked up at the stone bull. It tilted its head. “They're closer than I thought,” it mumbled. “I'll have to deal with you quickly.”

Reverser threw the airplane. It bounced off of the stone bull's head.

“You forget,” the bull said, rising to its feet. There was a shifting sound as the walls of the arena began to open, revealing twelve humanoid stone creatures, like giants made of concrete and bronze. “I am an architect, rivaled only by the god Hephaestus himself. I know your weaknesses. With your physical state, you do not stand a chance against my automatons.”

The tunnel behind Reverser shut with a loud boom, sealing him in.

Reverser put a hand to his earpiece. “Hey, Ladybug? I'll be there in a sec, okay?”

The bull statue scoffed, scraping an iron hoof against the dirt. “What do you plan to do?”

Reverser stepped off of his glider, motioning it away with a wave of his hand. “You know,” he said. “For someone who's supposed to be a symbol of cleverness and ingenuity in mythology, you're really not living up to that,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

“It's true what you said-I'm not very strong,” Reverser began, materializing an airplane in his fingers again, rubbing his fingers against the wings absentmindedly. “I'm not fast, or good at fighting, especially when compared to superheroes like Ladybug and Chat Noir. You wouldn't be wrong to call me _weak_.”

The twelve automatons began to shuffle towards him, their footsteps making the earth tremble with their weight.

The bull statue glanced at him. “So?”

A thin smile spread across Reverser's face as he held the airplane up. “You forget my power,” he said.

It was as though a ticking bomb had been dropped into the room. The bull statue's eyes narrowed in confusion, then widened with shock, then he was charging forward, mouth wide, teeth bared.

Reverser didn't move. This was it. The pounding of the bull's hooves on the ground echoed the pounding in his heart, filling his ears and muting the rest of the world.

“From weakness to strength.”

He turned the airplane around to face himself.

“Reversion.”

~oOo~

“Might!” Ladybug ran down the corridor, a red and black spotted ball of yarn in her hand. “Are we nearby?”

Might's voice spoke over the radio, a little panicked. “I see your icon on my screen,” he said. “You're close...closer...there! I'm on your left!”

“Chat Noir!”

“Cataclysm!” Chat Noir ran his hand along the wall, turning the stonework to dust. Mightillustrator pushed through the dust just before the stonework resealed itself.

“I can see!” Mightillstrator coughed. “Ah, dust in my throat. Fuck. Wait a sec.”

“We don't have time to wait!” Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around Might's waist, pulling him out of the way as a much beefier version of Daedalus slammed his fist into the ground. The other hand was clutching a stone slab the size of a trashcan lid.

“Whoah!” Might tumbled head over ass over heels until his back hit the other wall.

“Yeah, he's swoll now, jokes later!” Chat Noir yelled, running up Daedalus's arm and flipping out of reach as the bull-man reared back, swiping at him with a meaty hand.

There was a loud thud from the other side of the wall and the ground shook, nearly knocking Mightillustrator back down to the ground. “Please don't tell me there are two Minotaurs,” he said, quickly drawing a shield in front of him as Daedalus threw a punch at his face. The shield absorbed the punch and disintegrated seconds after, leaving nothing between him and the giant Akuma monster.

“H-hey,” Might said, backing away. His back hit the wall. There were several crunching and thudding noises on the other side, which only made him more nervous. “That's a nice rock in your hand. Is that your Akuma?”

“It's my skull bashing stone,” Daedalus said, raising the tablet over Might's head.

The ground shook again, knocking Daedalus off balance for a moment. Might dove between the bull man's legs, rolling to safety.

“Reverser, where are you?” Ladybug called. “We need your help!”

“This is where you die!” Daedalus charged towards them, horns lowered.

“Get back!” Ladybug yelled.

The wall burst open, and a black and white fist connected with Daedalus's face, sending him crashing into the other wall.

Might shielded his face from the sudden spray of dust in the air. When he lowered his arms, one of the most bizarre and incredible sights he had ever seen faced him.

“Sorry I'm late,” Reverser said, holding down the giant bull monster who scrabbled uselessly against the ground. The rest of the heroes stared at him.

The sight was almost comical-lanky, paper Reverser easily holding down an Akuma almost twice his size.

“Hoooooow are you doing that?” Chat Noir said, stepping back. “Seriously, how is he doing that?”

“Get...off!” Daedalus struggled, but was unable to move.

Reverser looked up at them. “Yes, I'm great, I'm cool, please hurry, I can't do this for long,” he said, looking a little desperate.

Ladybug swung her yo-yo, wrapping it around the arm holding the stone tablet. Daedalus's other arm grabbed her yo-yo, yanking her forward.

Mightillustrator grabbed the ball of yarn that she dropped, throwing it at Chat Noir, who circled behind Daedalus. The string wrapped around the bull's other arm, and as Might and Chat Noir pulled, they managed to pry his arm away from the yo-yo, restraining the villain.

Ladybug pried the tablet from his fingers, breaking it in half over her knee.

“No!” Daedalus yelled as the walls of the labyrinth disintegrated into purple smoke. Defeated, he stopped fighting, and Reverser stepped away as the Akuma disappeared and Jalil Kubdel opened his eyes, looking bewildered.

Might turned to Reverser, grinning like an idiot. “You did it! It finally worked! All those tests were worth it after all!”

“Yeah,” Reverser said, looking around nervously. “But only for five minutes. We gotta get out of here right now.”

“Shit.” Might grabbed Reverser's arm. “Grab your glider. I'll ride with you.”

“Have fun,” Chat Noir called back, turning to Jalil.

Ten seconds later Mightillustrator and Reverser were flying towards the Eiffel tower, Might holding Reverser as the monochrome hero piloted his glider.

“Shittttt,” Might whined, trying not to look down.

“Why aren't you this scared when you have your wings?”

“Because I know how to stop myself from falling when I have my wings!”

“Then why didn't you draw yourself some wings?!”

“You said time was limited!”

The two flew inside the beams of the tower, where no one could see them. Might jumped onto one of the larger beams and held out a hand to his friend. Reverser jumped down and instantly fell to his knees.

“Reverser!”

“I'm okay,” Reverser gasped. Might could see sweat dripping from his black and white face. “My times almost up, though.”

“I don't think we ever figured out what happens after five minutes in our tests,” Might said.

“I do,” Reverser responded. Then he slumped to the ground and passed out.

A spattering of black and white triangles surrounded Reverser's body, and Might barely managed to realize what was happening in time to grab Reverser's glider out of the air as it turned back into a journal and lost its hovering abilities.

“That was close,” Might said, holding the journal to his chest. “You probably would have shouted at me if I'd lost it.” He turned to Marc, sleeping obliviously on the beam several hundred feet in the air.

Might turned the journal over in his hands, feeling a little awkward in the silence. How long was he going to be out for? What if someone came up here and saw him? What if another Akuma came along and Might had to leave him defenseless? How could he move Marc without raising suspicion from reporters? Why does he look so cute when he's sleeping?

Well, Might new the answer to the last one. Marc was always cute.

~oOo~

Marc woke up in his bed, feeling like someone had punched him against a wall twenty times in a row.

Groaning, he glanced at the clock next to him-how many hours had it been? Three? Four?

“Oh hey, you woke up.”

Groaning for an entirely different reason, Marc let his head fall against the pillow and closed his eyes. “Why are you in my room?”

“I wasn't sure how long it would take for you to wake up-or if you would,” Might said, muttering the last part a little under his breath. “And I figured we should probably know that for future reference.”

“So you decided to watch me while I sleep?”

“Well when you say it like that it sounds creepy.”

“It is creepy.”

“I was doing other things too! I drew stuff!”

Marc forced himself to open his eyes and sit up. Mightillustrator was sitting on a chair, one of his and Nath's comics open on his lap. “I don't think I've ever actually seen you draw something with a normal pen,” he said, mildly interested.

Might grinned and held up a very intricate paper flower crown in rainbow colors. “I didn't. This is for you, by the way. It's pretty and made of paper, just like you!”

“Thanks,” Marc said, yawning. “How's Jalil?”

Might looked a little disappointed that his flirting had gone unnoticed, but brushed it off. “According to Chat Noir, his father gave him a stern talking-to about being possessed by mythological figures and trying to bring people back from the dead,” Might said. “You know, as you do.”

“I bet Alix won't let him hear the end of this for months,” Marc said.

Might laughed. “Yeah.”

“You've met Alix, haven't you?” Marc said. “She's really cool, you'd like her.”

Might nodded. “We've met a few times.”

Marc swung his legs over the side of his bed, ignoring the aching in his entire body. “By the way, how did I get home?”

Mightillustrator set down the flower crown on a nearby surface and shuffled one toe against the floor. “I...uh...I had to carry you.”

“Oh?”

“In a body bag.”

“Oh.”

“People might have taken pictures.” Might sucked in a slow breath. “I don't want to know what the media is going to think but I can guess.”

Marc stifled a laugh. “Oh no.”

“Well then,” Mightillustrator stood up. “If I'm not framed for murder by the end of the day and forced to leave the country I'll see you tonight on patrol.”

“See you-” Marc's eyes shot open. “Nathaniel! I left him in the bakery!” He turned and began rifling through his pockets for his phone.

“I'll just leave now,” Might said, abruptly standing up and moving to the open window. “Have fun!”

Marc was barely paying attention. He gave a quick wave goodbye to Mightillustrator and started texting Nathaniel, suddenly feeling less sleepy and more panicked.

**Marc:** I am so sorry I left you in the bakery I got trapped in the labyrinth and then I was lost and I forgot abut our plans and I'm really sorry

Marc waited for several minutes, hands shaking. Nathaniel didn't answer. Why wasn't he answering? Was he asleep? Was he in the shower? Did he secretly hate Marc now for leaving him in the bakery? Was he dead? Had he been walking across the street and been hit by a car? Was he in the hospital right now and Marc didn't know it and they'd never make another comic again and Marc would never be able to tell Nathaniel his feelings and-

**Nath:** ok

Marc wanted to throw his phone against the wall.

**Marc:** Are you sure?

 **Nath:** yeah!

Sorry for the short response I'm a little busy at the moment

We can get cookies later

Oh. Marc let out a long breath, his initial instinct to throw his phone now subsided.

**Marc:** cool

Marc turned over and quietly screamed into his pillow.

He should have been more reserved, he sounded dumb, he'd jumped to conclusions way too quickly and-

Wait.

Did Nathaniel say they could get cookies later?

Marc paused his quiet screaming to check his phone.

Not making the comics.

Not a writing meeting.

Just getting cookies. Like friends do. Or people who want to be more than friends. Like a date. Was Nathaniel asking him on a date?

Marc turned and buried his face back into his pillow.

He was reading too much into this, he knew.

But, theoretically-if Nathaniel _was_ asking him on a date...

_The fates decree that within a year, Ladybug will die._

Predictevility's words snapped him out of his daydream like a splash of cold water, taking the butterflies in his gut and turning them sour with anxiety.

Right. He still had something to do first.

~oOo~

Several hours later the four heroes met up for nightly patrol.

“Hey,” Ladybug said. “You two don't have shift tonight. Why are you here?”

Reverser and Might looked at each other anxiously. “We have something that we've been keeping secret from you two,” Reverser said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He took a deep breath, already regretting what he was going to have to say but determined to say it anyway.

Chat Noir's eyes widened. “Oh my god,” he said. “I knew it!” He grabbed Ladybug's shoulder in excitement. “I told you! This cat can smell romance from a mile away!”

Reverser had an emotional experience similar to preparing for a fistfight and getting hit by a train. “What?”

Might raised his hands up. “It's not like that,” he said, turning a darker shade of purple. “There's something we've been meaning to tell Ladybug-”

“Hold up.” Reverser put up a hand to stop Might. “You thought we were...dating?”

Chat Noir blinked. “Was I wrong?”

Reverser spluttered. “What...what...how...why-”

“Well, Might always compliments you and gives you things,” Chat Noir said, crossing his arms. “Not to mention he was in your bedroom for about three hours this afternoon, so I kinda assumed-.”

Reverser was three seconds away from choking on his own spit. “WHAT?”

“Pretty sure it was only two and a half,” Might muttered under his breath.

“You're not helping,” Reverser hissed.

“Okay!” Ladybug put her hands up, effectively stopping all conversation. “You said there was something you needed to talk about.”

Reverser hunched his shoulders. “Do you remember Predictevility, from about five months ago?”

Ladybug nodded.

“Well, after he got Chat Noir, he...made a prediction,” Reverser said, running one hand up his paper sleeve. “Might and I heard him say it.”

Mightillustrator stepped behind Reverser a little bit.

“He said,” Reverser swallowed. “He said Ladybug was going to die within a year.”

There was a terrible silence that stretched into the night until it was broken by Chat Noir, which was somehow worse.

“Are you serious?” The cat hero stepped forward, his eyes as thin as slits. Reverser and Might stepped back on reflex. “How could you keep something like that from us?”

Mightillustrator looked away guiltily. “I told Reverser to keep quiet,” he said. “I was scared that-”

Chat Noir laughed. “You were scared? This isn't some 'I broke the expensive vase' kind of secret, Might! This is-” he ran a hand through his hair, pacing. “You should have said something!” Chat Noir turned to Mightillustrator with a furious expression. “I can't believe you!”

Reverser stepped between the two. “What were we supposed to say?” He challenged. “Sorry, Ladybug, but the Akuma that can predict the future told us you're gonna kick the bucket in the next twelve months?”

“You should have said something!” Chat Noir shouted. “We don't keep secrets among team members!”

“That's a fucking lie and you know it,” Reverser shot back.

“Quiet!” Ladybug snapped.

Reverser and Chat Noir fell silent.

“Reverser, Might,” she said. “Thank you for telling us this.”

“Five months late.”

“Chat!”

Chat Noir backed off, scowling.

“You should have said something sooner,” Ladybug said calmly. “But I understand why you were afraid.”

Reverser looked down. “We know,” he said. “We're sorry.”

Ladybug sighed. “Chat Noir?”

There was a moment of tense silence. “Sorry for lashing out,” Chat Noir said, a little sulkily.

Ladybug looked over Reverser's shoulder at Might, who was clutching his arms and shaking like it was the coldest night of winter.

“I'm not mad,” she said, taking a seat. “So let's talk about this.” She patted the ground, and the rest of the heroes gradually moved forward to sit around her.

“M'lady, if what Predictevility said is true-” Chat Noir began.

“We don't know that,” Ladybug interrupted. “As far as we know, he only made two predictions-the one about Might and the one about me.”

Might tucked his knees to his chest. “And the one about me might not have been a real prediction at all,” he said.

“But even if it was a real prediction,” Ladybug crossed her arms. “That doesn't change anything. I have a duty to protect Paris. That's not going to change.”

“I could be metaphorical,” Reverser suggested. “It might mean that 'Ladybug' will die because we'll no longer need to be heroes.”

“But what if it's not? What if you..” Chat Noir's voice trailed off, afraid that speaking his fears would make them more tangible.

Ladybug smiled. “Even if something does happen to me,” she said. “It's not like I'm the only Ladybug that's ever existed, or is ever going to exist.”

“You're taking this awfully well for someone who just learned they might die in the next six or seven months,” Reverser said.

Ladybug smiled. “I don't plan on dying anytime soon.” She got to her feet, extending a hand to Chat Noir. “We should start our patrol. I want to check out some other meeting places, make sure that we stay mobile and keep the Akumas on their toes.”

Chat Noir accepted her hand, letting her pull him to his feet. “But just so we're clear, from now on, you don't face Akumas alone, got it?”

Ladybug frowned. “You don't have to protect me, you know.”

“I'd rather be too careful than lose you.”

“I'm going to second that,” Reverser said. “Just until we're in the clear.”

“Thirded,” Might replied.

Ladybug looked at them all. “Guess I'm outvoted,” she said. “As long as this doesn't get in the way of our missions, fine. Lets go.”

Mightillustrator and Reverser sat on the rooftop, watching as Ladybug and Chat Noir soared over the skies of Paris.

“That could have gone better,” Might said.

“It could have gone a lot worse, too.” Reverser leaned back, looking up at the sky. “At least they know now.”

Might smiled. “I guess some things have to be said, no matter the outcome. Thanks, by the way. For stepping in when Chat Noir...got mad.”

“Noted.” As Reverser got to his feet, he held out a hand to Might, pulling them both up from the ground. Reverser was suddenly acutely aware of how Mightillustrator's hand fit in his own.

Chat Noir had thought they were dating...

A feeling sparked in Reverser's stomach, a feeling that he squashed down instantly.

“Now, if you'll excuse me,” he said, feigning a relaxed smile, “a friend recently let slip that there's a community of fan artists who are interested in us superheroes, and I'm always interested in learning new things.”

Might instantly paled. “There are some things you really don't want to know,” he warned.

Reverser laughed, jumping onto his glider. “What's the worst that could happen?” He teased.

“For the love of god _please_ don't learn the answer to that question.”

Reverser stuck out his duo-toned tongue and sped away.

It was only when he was out of visual range from Might that he stopped to consider the feeling in his gut.

Did he like Might?

Sure, Might was charming and fun in his own way, but...

Reverser shook his head.

No.

Might was his friend, his partner. That was all. This feeling would be gone in a few hours, and he'd never have to think about it again.

...

At least, he hoped so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daedalus Art (Jalil just wants to be a Mythological beefcake let him be):  
> https://dragonchris.tumblr.com/post/628993156622548992/art-for-chapter-twelve-of-miracles-stories-of


	13. The World in Black and White

Mightillustrator ducked behind a broken chunk of wall, hearing the dull thunk of paper airplanes hitting the cover and dissipating.

“You can't run away forever!” Revisionist yelled. “Try to buy time all you like, but my airplanes are still faster than anything you can draw!”

“Ladybug, Pegasus, Carapace, this is Mightillustrator,” the hero pressed a hand to his earpiece. “I need help, now! Revisionist has got me pinned down and Ryuko's condition is unknown.”

Carapace's voice responded back. “Not my problem, dude.”

Might paused, thinking he hadn't heard right. “What?”

“I don't care what happens to you all,” Carapace said. “I'm out.” The earpiece fell silent.

“Carapace, what the fuck?” Might yelled back.

No one answered.

Mightillustrator cursed and sketched a grenade, pulling the pin and throwing it over the wall. The world behind him erupted into a whirlwind of dust and debris.

“Too slow,” Revisionist taunted, flying over his cover, airplane in hand. “Your art is made by skill, but soon your hands will be as dexterous as lead!”

Mightillustrator wasn't there.

Revisionist scowled, circling higher into the sky where Mightillustrator's drawings wouldn't be able to reach.

Mightillustrator watched him, hiding under a broken staircase. “Ladybug,” he called over his earpiece. “Ladybug, I'm kind of in deep shit right now. Ryuko's out, Carapace is being an asshole and Revisionist is _really_ on my ass. I need help!”

“Might?” Ladybug's voice responded and Might almost felt like crying from joy.

“Yeah, it's me!” He said.

“Might,” she said, breathing heavily. “I'm heading towards the Eiffel Tower. Dark Lady got Chloe but I managed to snag the Miracle Box. If you can lure Revisionist over here we might be able to lead them to the rest of the group and deal with them as a team!”

“Oh thank god you have a plan,” Might said, darting out of cover and speeding away with a flap of his wings.

“Where are you?” Revisionist called, before his eyes snapped to the sudden burst of movement. “Hey! Hey, where are you going?!”

“Try and catch me, fucker!” Mightillustrator crowed, speeding away. He started drawing like a madman, creating anything and everything that could come to his mind and flinging it behind him into Revisionist's path.

Revisionist gave chase, throwing paper airplanes, most of which missed, the rest being caught midair by flying objects.

“Hey, Revisionist!” Mightillustrator yelled. “Why don't you call your airplanes 'Revisions' to fit with your name change?”

“They are Reversions!” Revisionist yelled back, dodging a well-aimed flowerpot that was flung at his face.

“Awwww, did Dark Lady not care enough to give you new powers with your new name? Are you all mad and bitchy because you can't have Reverser's name?”

“No!” Revisionist said, gritting his teeth. “I'm not!”

“Ha! You are!”

“Shut up!”

“Make me, asshole!”

The look Revisionist gave him was almost scalding with seething hatred. Mightillustrator laughed loudly to hide the fear that was pumping adrenaline into his body as the monochrome villain slowly began to catch up, despite his best attempts to keep Revisionist away.

The Eiffel tower was close now. Mightillustrator thought he could see two red figures and a yellow one jumping through the beams like an acrobat.

“Fuck, which one are you?” He yelled towards the group.

“Don't worry about that! Just get Queen Hornet!” One of them called back.

“Queen what?”

“Chloe!”

“You know, if Chloe keeps getting akumatized every other month like this Hawkmoth might have to start getting creative with villain names,” Mightillustrator said, speeding towards his self-proclaimed nemesis.

~oOo~

Ladybug clutched the Miracle Box to her chest with one hand, using the beams of the Eiffel tower to dodge and weave away from Dark Lady's clutches.

“You can't escape, Ladybug!” Queen Hornet yelled, diving towards her from the side, hands outstretched. Ladybug used one foot to pivot off of a beam, rapidly changing direction as the supervillain flew past, missing her by inches.

Dark Lady dodged Queen Hornet as she fell, throwing her yo-yo around a smaller beam, causing it to snap off. Grabbing the improvised weapon, she hurled it at Ladybug. Ladybug held up the Miracle Box, and there was a screeching sound as the sharp metal scraped off the invincible box. The sheer force of the blow caused Ladybug to stumble, arms wheeling in the air.

Queen Hornet caught her footing and leapt towards Ladybug again.

“Look out!” Mightillustrator yelled, seconds before an entire fucking tree shot towards Queen Hornet like a missile, nailing her in the stomach and sending her flying.

Dark Lady tried to dodge, but the tree swung in a wide arc, tangling around her yo-yo. With a flick of his wrist, Might sent the tree careening towards the ground, dragging Dark Lady with it.

“Might!” Ladybug yelled as the winged artist flew to her side.

“Hey,” Might said, giving a wink as he helped her to her feet. “I hope I wasn't late to the party.”

An airplane hit him in the back.

“Reversion,” Revisionist said, grinning.

“Shit,” Might said, looking back at Revisionist.

“Just try and draw now,” Revisionist called.

“Oh, fuck you!” Mightillustrator yelled back, sticking up two middle fingers.

“Might,” Ladybug warned. “We have to get to Chat Noir and the others.”

“We don't even know where they are!” Mightillustrator retorted. “We might just have to fight our way out of this.”

“But your powers-”

“Just like when we first fought Reverser,” Might said. “I can still erase. Besides, I have my wings, I have an entire fucking tree-”

At that moment, the tree that had been pinning Dark Lady to the ground disappeared in a shower of blue lights.

“I do not have an entire fucking tree.” Might looked down at the Akuma, who was quickly scaling her way back up the Eiffel Tower. “Nevermind, we're fucked, let's run.”

“You continue to fight with energy,” Revisionist said. “But soon you'll be sleeping in the dust!” He charged towards them, throwing airplanes.

Ladybug and Might looked at each other.

“Bait?” Ladybug asked.

“Bait,” Mightillustrator agreed.

Mightillustrator leapt away from the Eiffel tower, and as predicted, Revisionist followed him. Looking down, Mightillustrator saw Queen Hornet also rapidly chasing after him from below.

“Uh, I think the bait tactic is working a little too well,” Might said, looking back at Revisionist. He tried to draw a bowling ball to chuck at the villain's face but the moment his fingers touched the tablet his hands became uncontrollably shaking and the result was an indistinguishable pile of goo that dissipated and only served to drain his energy. “I'm really starting to dislike you, Revisionist.”

Another voice entered into their radio channel.

“This is Pegasus. I've retransformed and am heading your way.”

“Thank fuck!” Might yelled, dodging an airplane by the skin of his teeth-or more accurately, by the skin of his ass as the paper in question barely skimmed past his hips.

“Language,” Ladybug scolded over his earpiece.

“Sorry, I curse when I'm stressed-STOP TRYING TO HIT ME YOU BITCH ASS MINIMALIST DICKWAD!”

Ladybug threw her yo-yo and it wrapped around Revisionist's leg. Wrapping her legs around one of the beams, she pulled at the joint behind Revisionist's knee, pulling him off of his glider. He fell from the sky. Mightillustrator circled back and grabbed the glider before it could dive after its owner, but it turned into a journal, slipping between his fingers.

“Ha!” Revisionist laughed, as the journal fell towards him. “How do you like that-”

Revisionist hit the ground with a solid crack, nearly crashing into Pegasus as he ran down the street. Pegasus threw his horseshoe at the journal, sending it flying into a nearby window while his weapon rebounded back into his hand.

“Ouch.” Mightillustrator winced sympathetically. “Hey Revision-bitch! Are you dead?”

Ladybug jumped further up the tower as Dark Lady neared.

“Mightillustrator,” Pegasus said, already heading towards Queen Hornet. “I think it would be wise if you drew restraints for Revisionist.”

“No can do,” Might said, shrugging and dropping down on the street, heading towards Revisionist's body. “I've got art block now, thanks to this asshole-fuck he's still getting up!” Might leapt away as the villain got to his feet, rubbing the back of his head.

One of his hands stretched out, and the glider flew out of the broken window and back to his feet. “You can't get me in restraints quite that easily,” Revisionist said, cracking his knuckles and leaping back onto his glider. Mightillustrator took back to the sky, circling his opponent.

“As much as I hate and fear you, I have to admit what you just said,” Might raised his eyebrows. “Not gonna lie, kinda hot.”

Revisionist bared his teeth, opening his hand to create a paper airplane. “Don't.”

“Hey, you _knew_ what you were saying-” Might shrieked as the airplane flew just over his head.

Ladybug scaled higher up the Eiffel tower, slowly running out of places to run as Dark Lady stalked towards her. She clutched the Miracle box to her chest. “Pegasus!”

Pegasus backflipped out of the way as Queen Hornet struck out with her spinning top. He glanced at Revisionist, at Dark Lady, and made his choice. “Voyage!”

“Oh no you don't! Venom!” Queen Hornet rushed forward, stinger extended.

“Sleep in the dust!” Revisionist yelled, throwing a barrage of airplanes towards Mightillustrator, who dodged them like a bullet hell game.

Pegasus turned, leaving his back exposed to Queen Hornet. “My calculations predict that this is the highest chance of success for us,” he said, taking a deep breath. “I trust you will finish the job.”

A paper airplane flew towards Might.

Dark Lady reached for Ladybug's ankle.

There was a flash of blue light, and a portal appeared in front of Dark Lady's face. She blinked in surprise before an airplane flew from the portal and hit her in the forehead.

Queen Hornet's stinger hit Pegasus in the side, and he stilled, instantly paralyzed.

Might blinked at the sudden portal shielding him from Revisionist.

There was a beat of silence as both heroes and villains watched Dark Lady.

If there was any indication of separation from iris and sclera, Ladybug might have been able to see Dark Lady's eyes roll upward into the back of her head as her grip loosened on the beams of the Eiffel tower and she fell.

Queen Hornet was the first person to move, dashing towards the falling Akuma with her spinning top thrown.

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug yelled, throwing her yo-yo into the air. A leaf blower dropped into her hands, and she struggled to balance both her lucky charm and the Miracle box in her hands.

Queen Hornet caught Dark Lady mid-air and ran away, carrying the unconscious villain in her arms.

“Might!” Ladybug yelled, balancing precariously at the top of the Eiffel tower.

Revisionist circled around Mightillustrator, blocking his path to Dark Lady. “Sorry, I can't let you follow them.”

Ladybug wrapped the end of her yo-yo around the leaf blower. “Catch!” She called out and swung her yo-yo, shooting the lucky charm towards the two like a missile.

Revisionist ducked out of the way as the projectile narrowly missed him. Mightillustrator caught the full brunt of the lucky charm in his chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending him careening backwards a few feet.

“Gah!” Might wheezed. “Ow!”

“You take care of Revisionist!” Ladybug yelled, jumping down from the tower. “All heroes within range, I need assistance, now!”

Mightillustrator looked at the leaf blower, then up at Revisionist. A devilish grin spread across his face.

Revisionist scoffed. “You seriously can't expect to defeat me with that,” he said.

Might aimed the nozzle towards him, laughing maniacally. “You obviously don't know the capabilities of a leaf blower!”

Revisionist threw an airplane as Might turned on the leaf blower, and to his glee, the airplane was blown away from the force of air. Revisionist struggled to keep his balance as the glider bucked and swayed beneath his feet.

“Oh my god,” Mightillustrator laughed, watching as Reverser's airplanes spiraled away. “This is the best Lucky Charm we've ever had!”

“You fucker,” Revisionist hissed, trying to throw against the force of wind and failing spectacularly.

Might cackled as he watched Revisionist grow more and more furious as his airplanes were redirected uselessly away.

“Might, no one's nearby,” Ladybug called on the earpiece. “I'm going after Queen Bee and Dark Lady. Can you handle Revisionist?”

“Can I?” Mightillustrator laughed. “Ladybug, the only regret I have right now is that I didn't think of doing this sooner with Reverser!”

Revisionist turned around and glided towards Ladybug.

“Hey! No!” Mightillustrator gave chase, turning off the leaf blower and slinging it over his shoulder. “Hey Ladybug! Incoming!”

“From weakness to strength,” Revisionist growled. “I'll finish this myself!” He shoved a paper airplane into his own chest and jumped from the glider.

“Ladybug!”

Ladybug panicked as Revisionist suddenly began running towards her at an incredibly fast speed. She tried to dodge but within seconds his fist connected with her shoulder, sending her flying.

Skidding across the street, Ladybug gave a sharp cry of pain as her elbow hit the concrete and the Miracle box slipped out of her arms.

Revisionist landed on the ground and picked it up, tucking it under one arm. “Sorry, Ladybug,” he said. “This time, you lose.”

“Hey!”

Mightillustrator landed underneath the Eiffel tower, pinning Revisionist's glider under his feet. “Don't move or I'll erase your glider,” he warned. “You wouldn't want to detransform now, would you?”

Revisionist paused, turning to him.

“Don't try me,” Might said. “I have a leaf blower and magic eraser, you don't know what I'm capable of!”

Revisionist snarled. “I don't have time for this.” He leapt towards Mightillustrator, crossing the distance in a matter of seconds.

Mightillustrator thought he was prepared for Revisionist's speed. He wasn't.

There was a sudden shock running through his body as suddenly Revisionist was in front of him, fist grabbing the front of his suit and lifting him into the air like a feather. His legs dangled into open space. Might struggled as his airway was restricted, fighting the urge to drop his pen and scrabble at Revisionist's arm.

“What's the matter?” He wheezed. “Not going to punch me?”

Revisionist hesitated.

“We both know you can't reverse others once you use this form,” Might said, gasping weakly for breath.

“What are you getting at?”

Might smiled. “I don't want to hurt you, Rev. I don't want to get hurt, either. But this is the only thing I could think of.” He swiped his pen across his tablet, and Revisionist looked up to see the last of the Eiffel tower's partially erased beams vanish above them, sending hundreds of tons of metal down to earth.

Revisionist threw Mightillustrator out of the way, sending him sprawling as the world collapsed in a pile of rust and rubble.

There was a whirlwind of being tossed and struck by every angle. Might curled into a ball, tucking his pen into his chest and using his wings to shield the rest of his body. Accidentally breaking his pen and detransforming now would probably kill him.

One of his wings snapped, sending him spiraling as it disintegrated. Nausea bubbled up in his throat as the world spun. Rocks hit the back of his head, his neck, his arms and legs scraping and bruising and threatening to break.

A beam slammed down on his other wing, yanking him to a sudden and painful stop before the other wing was also gone. Might closed his eyes and hoped he would still be alive when this was over.

When the destruction finally stilled, Mightillustrator slowly, experimentally moved his arms and legs. Nothing appeared to be trapped, but there were definitely bruises and scrapes that would hurt once the adrenaline wore off. He brought a hand to his head, and pulled it away sticky and wet with blood.

“Fuck...” he groaned, looking up at what little sky was still visible under the beams and pillars of iron.

Shifting a little, he stilled as the rubble above him grumbled in response. His pen was still clutched tightly in his hand, and the leaf blower strapped to his back had somehow gotten wedged between him and the thousands of pounds of former Eiffel tower above him, saving him from being crushed.

“Huh,” Might said, coughing as he inhaled dust. “I guess it's a lucky charm for a reason.”

Carefully, he began to erase the pieces of metal above him, letting the cloudy sky filter in light until he could safely wriggle out and get to his feet and stand on top of a pile of Paris' most recognizable monument.

“Might!” Ladybug ran towards him, scrambling over pieces of damaged buildings. “You're okay!”

“Yeah!” Mightillustrator stumbled towards his friend, holding his side as it began to throb painfully. “Using the most subjective definition of okay.”

“That was reckless,” Ladybug scolded. “You could have died!”

“I could have died? _You_ could have died!” Might crossed his arms. “Look, reckless is practically a heroic trait at this point so let's just skip the berating, okay?”

Ladybug opened her mouth, but a beeping in her earrings stopped her. “I'm going to go check on Pegasus and get him somewhere safe,” she said. “You find Revisionist and the Miracle box. I'll be back in ten minutes.”

Mightillustrator gave a tired salute and set out traversing over the rubble.

It didn't take him too long to find Revisionist. His glider was circling above like a beacon, tattered and badly damaged but still whole enough to keep the villain's transformation up.

Mightillustrator erased a few beams until he found a glimpse of black and white, unmoving. The glider was still up, so he at least had to be alive, but...

With a few more erasings, nearly draining the last of his energy, Mightillustrator managed to clear most of the rubble away from Revisionist, who was pinned down underneath one of the main beams. For the first time since they'd met a year ago, Mightillustrator saw his monochrome friend bleeding, a horrifying red contrast to his black and white, something that felt unnatural at its most base sense.

Revisionist's arms were both trapped beneath pillars of iron, one hand still holding the Miracle box, and his breathing was raspy and weak. He was probably nearing the end of his transformation too, so his strength would be fading. Mightillustrator took a chance and sat next to Revisionist.

“Hey,” he said. “What's black and white and red all over?”

Revisionist's eyes opened. “I'm going to spit on you,” he growled, but there was no threat behind his words.

“I was gonna say me,” Might said. “You know, cuz I've got red hair and a black and white suit and...okay.”

“You're purple too.”

“Well shit, my joke is ruined.”

Revisionist gave a single laugh, devolving into a fit of hacking coughs.

They sat in the dust, bleeding, waiting, as comfortable as the pain and the mutual animosity and the exhaustion would allow. Revisionist struggled to breathe against the pillar crushing his lungs.

“Revisionist,” Mightillustrator said. “Why...why did you save me?”

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

“That's bullshit. You threw me out of the way of the tower. You probably saved my life.”

Revisionist didn't answer for a while, but Mightillustrator waited until the villain finally gave a groan of defeat.

“What can I say?” Revisionist sighed, letting his head drop against the dirt. “I'm used to covering your ass. It's instinct at this point.”

Mightillustrator smiled. “Well it's nice to know you care.”

“I don't,” Revisionist snapped, before pausing. “Who am I kidding,” he muttered, looking up at Might. “You, Evillustrator, whatever the fuck you are-you're my friend. And maybe it's the lack of blood in my body or the fact that I can't bother to give a shit anymore, but you are one of the most important people in my life.”

Might stared, the words in his mouth going dry. “What?”

“Look, what happened before...I can't speak completely for how Reverser feels but I know that I didn't want to stop being your friend.” A kinder expression settled on Revisionist's face. “It's a shame, though. If it weren't for the fact that another red-haired, blue-eyed artist had already stolen my heart, you might have had a chance.”

Might's world seemed to freeze and spin incredibly fast at the same time. His blood pounded in his own ears, his spine drenched in ice. “What are you saying?”

“I told you I had feelings for someone else,” Revisionist said.

“Marc,” Mightillustrator gasped, as connections began to form in his mind so suddenly he felt like his head might explode. “Are you...you're not bullshitting me, right?”

Revisionist scowled. “I'm not Marc,” he hissed. “And I'm not lying, either.”

“Oh my god,” Might covered his mouth with his hands, elbows on his knees as his world seemed to shatter in the most beautiful and deadliest way.

Revisionist watched him with a skeptical eye.

“You like Nathaniel.” Might breathed. “You like Nathaniel Kurtzberg.”

Revisionist relaxed. “Is it that obvious?”

“Holy shit.” Might stood up. “I have to go.”

“That's a shame,” Revisionist said, closing his eyes. “I was just starting to enjoy our conversation.”

“You have a three hour nap that's going to be hitting you any second now,” Might said, pointing an accusing finger at the villain. “I expect you to still be here by the time I return, okay?”

Revisionist muttered a few curse words under his breath. “And I was hoping to keep you here until Evillustrator was done,” he muttered. “Well, whether you win or lose, it doesn't matter to me anymore.”

Mightillustrator ran, ignoring the burning that spiked in his lungs.

Reverser liked Nathaniel.

Marc liked Nathaniel.

Marc liked him.

Him!

_Him!_

Mightillustrator would have buried his face in his hands if he didn't need to see where he was going. He put a hand to his earpiece.

“Ladybug,” he called. “The Miracle box is with Revisionist. I'm going to find Reverser. Meet up when you can. Bye.”


	14. Reverser, the Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, it me  
> Just a fair warning, this chapter's got some mild hanky-panky, so if you're a child or that ain't your cup of tea, consider yourself warned.

_Approximately Three Nights before the Present Day_

Mightillustrator yawned, blinking as he swung his legs out over empty space. “Shit,” he muttered. “I shouldn't be this tired when our night patrol has just started.”

“Take some time to walk around,” Reverser advised. They were seated in the higher floors of an empty building, a new tower that was in the process of construction. The framing had been finished, but the windows were open and there were no accessories, only the smell of freshly cut plywood and dust. Still, it made for a good vantage point.

“I'll be okay,” Might assured. “Once the sun comes up I can go home and enjoy an entire weekend of sleep.”

“Just make sure to wake up before Monday's flight.”

“But consider this-” Might put up a finger. “Sleeping during the flight.”

Reverser shrugged. “If you want to do that, then go ahead, I guess. It's not like I'm an expert on your sleeping...”

Might wiggled his eyebrows.

“Don't even try,” Reverser said, ignoring the heat that rushed to his face.

“What? It's fun seeing you get flustered,” Might said, grinning.

“I'm not flustered.”

“You were flustered when Chat Noir thought we were dating,” Might countered. “And you know me, I'm always exploring the wheel of emotions. Especially when it's _your_ wheel that gets spun.”

Reverser blinked. “I'm going to wander around a bit,” he said, getting to his feet and walking to the interior of the building. There was a little light orb floating in the center of the room, courtesy of Reverser reminding Might to think ahead before patrolling at night.

Reverser felt like there were butterflies-maybe Akumas-in his stomach. Why now? Ever since Chat Noir had made that one comment he'd been second-guessing everything with Might. Jokes and offhand comments that he never used to pay attention to now seemed to affect him so much more.

He should have been able to ignore it by now. These feelings should be gone by now.

Reverser glanced back at Mightillustrator. He was leaning into the open frame of a large window, the moonlight streaming through, illuminating his hair in a halo of orange light. In the heavy shadows, with only his silhouette visible, Reverser could almost mistake him for Nathaniel.

There was a pressure in his gut, an uncomfortable distraction that kept drawing his eyes towards the artist.

Nathaniel was his friend, talented, brilliant, with flaws and weaknesses and strengths and talents just like everyone else. Marc had fallen for Nathaniel, he was as sure of that as he was that the sun rose in the day and the moon in the night.

Mightillustrator was a mask. A friend, sure, but a mask nonetheless. Reverser knew the persona that Mightillustrator had made for himself well, but every slip of confidence, every hint of unpredictability hinted to another person behind the purple skin that Reverser didn't know. He couldn't have feelings for Might, Mightillustrator wasn't a person. He was a role played by a stranger, and Reverser could only see the character.

“Hey,” Might said moving his head a little. “How's the drywall look over there?”

“Stunning,” Reverser answered. “Absolutely breathtaking. They really went for a bold choice with the off-white color, it definitely makes a statement.”

Mightillustrator snorted. Reverser felt his skin crawl.

How much did he really know about Mightillustrator? They were around the same age, he knew that. Might was afraid of heights as a civilian. He'd once made a passing joke about the yellow, blue, and magenta dots on the front of his suit standing for pansexuality but Reverser wasn't sure if that was just a joke or...

Languidly, Might stretched, letting his legs drop to the floor. “Hey Reverser,” he said. “Do you think your reversions could make me not tired? I want to try something that's kind of like your power-up...whatever it is you can do now.”

“I'd rather not experiment without Ladybug here,” Reverser said.

“Oh come on,” Might pouted. “It can't go too bad.”

“Remember when you got a cut on your cheek and you told me to reverse it to see if I could heal you?”

Mightillustrator sucked a quick breath in through his teeth. “I see your very legitimate point and I wish I could forget that ever happened.”

“You nearly died.”

“What if we called Ladybug?”

“We just relieved her and Chat Noir of their night shift 30 minutes ago,” Reverser said. “Let her sleep.”

“Alright,” Might said. “Can you at least talk to me so I don't fall asleep?”

“Sure,” Reverser said. “What's on your mind?”

“You,” Might answered shortly, raising an eyebrow.

Goddamit.

Reverser's breath shook a little, but he kept his face impassive. “What about me?”

“Well,” Might tucked his knees to his chest. “You've been a bit more...reactive to my, uh, jokes this past month. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't making you uncomfortable or anything like that.”

Oh.

Even Mightillustrator had noticed that he was off. Fucking perfect.

“Sorry.” Might turned away. “I'm not great with reading people.”

“No, no,” Reverser said. “It's not....you don't have to worry about that. It's fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” Reverser said.

The following silence was practically hell in a sound form. Might fidgeted with his pen and finally spoke, breaking the silence all too quickly but not quickly enough to dissipate the sudden awkwardness in the air. “It's just, you know, Chat Noir said that thing about how he thought we were dating and you seemed really shocked about that which is completely understandable and-”

“Might,” Reverser said.

“-and I'd get if you didn't really want me to be all flirty and like that towards you because you might not like that,” Might rambled, stepping out of the window and pacing around the room. “And that's fine if you don't want me to say things like that and it's not like I'd judge you for it because that'd be weird and-”

“Might!” Reverser stepped forward, grabbing his friend's arm to stop his pacing. “I said it's fine.”

Might froze, and Reverser suddenly realized how close they were, his grip tight around Mightillustrator's wrist and his face inches away. Mightillustrator looked up at him, his lips parted slightly in surprise, his pulse quick under Reverser's fingers.

Maybe he had a thing for red hair and blue eyes. Reverser swallowed, his throat suddenly dry and his knees a little shaky. Even so, he managed not to break eye contact with Might, as though they were walking on threads, and one misstep would break...whatever this was.

“I don't mind,” Reverser said, intending to sound impersonal, but his voice came out much huskier than he had intended. Mightillustrator's breath hitched.

“Ha,” Mightillustrator said, his voice a little shaky as he looked up into Reverser's eyes. “Is that so?”

Reverser felt tense, like a tightly wound spring about to snap at the smallest change. He couldn't let go, he couldn't step forward, so he kept silent, his intense stare trained on the smallest details of Mightillustrator's face, the darkening of his purple cheeks and ears, his eyes flicking quickly down to Reverser's lips and back up, the bob of the artist's adam's apple in his throat as his breath rose and fell in quick, erratic breaths.

“What's the matter?” Might asked, a challenging look rising with the blush on his face. “Are you embarrassed?”

“Shut up.”

“Make me.”

And something inside Reverser snapped.

He surged forward, pinning Mightillustrator against the wall, his lips locked onto Might's like a storm crashing against the ocean, thunder in his throat, lightning in his tongue, while Mightillustrator pressed back with an intensity that threatened to drown them both.

Mightillustrator clutched at the angular lines of Reverser's suit, fingers digging into the paper and pressing against the skin beneath, insistent and demanding as he kissed and bit at Reverser's lips.

He wanted this. He needed this, just for today. Right now was all that mattered.

Reverser growled as he pushed back against Mightillustrator, kissing him back with an unrestrained hunger as he pinned one of Might's arms with his own, his other hand tangled in Mightillustrator's hair, cushioning his head against the wall.

“Rev,” Might gasped, barely able to get more than a syllable out between moving lips and stolen breaths.

If Mightillustrator was still able to speak then Reverser obviously wasn't doing his job right. He pushed his tongue against Might's lips, and Might let him in, let Reverser explore and taste and steal every noise that he could pull from the artist's throat.

Reverser thought he could live from those little sounds and gasps, as Mightillustrator gave in and let him take control. His hips pressed against Mightillustrator by impulse, and Might responded with a shudder and an approving sound. His one free hand trailed down Reverser's back, lower-

Reverser jumped a little. Mightillustrator froze, his hand quickly moving back up to the small of Reverser's back.

“You better commit,” Reverser snapped, surprising himself with the deep growl of his own voice. “I won't forgive you if you hold back.”

Slowly, Mightillustrator's hand moved back down to Reverser's ass. “Are you sure?” The artist asked, another question hidden beneath, unspoken, telltale of the thousand ideas rushing through Might's head of how the night might continue.

Reverser answered by kissing him again, and Might responded eagerly. One leg lifted, hooking around Reverser's hip, and Reverser dropped his hold on Might's wrist to support it. His fingers trailed around the inside of Mightillustrator's thigh, reveling in how Might whined and shifted at his touch.

Might used his free hand to push back Reverser's hood, tangling his fingers to the mess of black and white hairs. Reverser's kisses moved further down, biting at Might's lower lip, trailing along his jaw, fastening to the artist's neck and nosing his bodysuit lower to reach tender skin.

“F-fuck,” Might breathed, back arching to fit against Reverser's angular frame. Reverser moved closer, his smaller hips fitting almost too perfectly along Might's wider ones. Might's erection was splendidly uncomfortable against his own. “Reverser, my pen,” he gasped. “Let me grab it.”

Regretfully, Reverser stepped away, letting Might pick up his pen from the ground. With a quick stroke, a line disappeared in his suit from his neck to his navel, little blue sparks flying away and illuminating the purple skin beneath for a second before winking out of existence.

That was all Reverser needed. He moved forward again, pressing his lips to Mightillustrator's neck, both his and Might's hands clumsily pulling the suit away from Might's shoulders. Slipping his hands out of the bodysuit, Mightillustrator began to pull at Reverser's suit, the stiff paper tearing away easier from the sweat on Reverser's body and the mild superstrength benefit from being a hero. Reverser felt the chill of wind on his neck and shoulders as they were exposed to the night air, quickly replaced by Might's warm hands as his fingernails dug into his back.

As he pulled the suit lower, Reverser moved to press kisses to Might's collarbone, his chest, his ribs, his stomach.

Might tangled his hands into Reverser's hair. “Oh fuck,” he whispered, both fear and excitement trembling in his voice. “Reverser-ah!”

His teeth found the strip of skin just beneath Might's hip, causing the artist to whine, clenching his fists into Reverser's hair.

Reverser hummed triumphantly, teasing the skin with his tongue as Might fell apart under his lips. A string of words rambled from the artist's mouth under his breath, a cocktail of curse words and disjunct syllables and his name that Reverser felt like he could get drunk from.

He could sense Might's frustration. Reverser was so close to what he wanted, not quite close enough, teetering impishly on a line that Might needed crossed, and Reverser enjoyed withholding from him.

Reverser pulled away, tutting as Might tried to follow and pushed his hips back against the wall with steady hands against shaking legs. “So impatient,” he purred, as Might's knees finally gave way and he slid down to the floor, hands moving to Reverser's shoulders to steady his fall.

Reverser moved to straddle Mightillustratror's lap, fingers playing with the thin divide where Might's bodysuit hung just below his hips, fingernails scraping and circling lightly against skin as he waited for Might to regain his composure.

Might's head was tilted as far back as his neck would allow, his face flushed, eyes shut tightly. Reverser raised one hand to lightly trail against his lavender neck, and Might shuddered against his knuckles.

“Might,” Reverser whispered, gently turning his chin with one hand. Might's eyes fluttered open, pupils so dilated only the barest ring of blue was visible. “I need you to make some things for us.”

“What....what did you have in mind?” Mightillustrator asked, licking his lips a little nervously.

Reverser leant forward. “Oh, nothing extreme,” he said conversationally. His eyes locked with Might's. “I was planning something along the lines of riding you until morning.”

Might groaned, hips bucking, eyes shutting again. “Fuck,” he pulled Reverser towards him and kissed him, the fire in his lips and his hands burning like a poison, begging for a cure.

Reverser let himself get lost in the heat and smell of the moment, his hands wandering, his body hot and overstimulated with the hands running down his back and his hips and the insides of his thighs and the sudden urgency that followed, the blood pumping in his face and neck and throat and groin.

And Reverser let himself go.

~oOo~

By the time the sky began to show the first few streaks of light, Reverser and Mightillustrator were collapsed on a recently-drawn mattress, tired and sore and content. Reverser was flat on his back, legs and torso tangled in blankets, while Mightillustrator sat beside him, lazily erasing any evidence of what had happened that night.

Reverser shifted, turning his back to Might as he watched the sun rise. Now that the heated feelings and energy had faded, he was left with only his thoughts, dully swimming around his head in a foggy haze. What do you say after a one night stand with your friend?

Mightillustrator yawned and rolled up against Reverser's back, pressing a quick kiss to the back of Reverser's neck. Reverser relaxed, his mind bordering on the edge of unconsciousness.

“I love you,” Might said, running a hand down Reverser's arm and slipping his hand into his black and white one. “I've loved you for a while now, but was never able to say it.”

Reverser's heart stopped, an icy cold feeling running through his bones. “What?”

Mightillustrator noticed the sudden change in tone and immediately tensed.

Reverser sat up, heart pounding again but this time the butterflies in his stomach had turned to a cold, heavy steel. “You....you what?”

His eyes flicked across Mightillustrator's face, waiting for him to break character, to say that this was all some big prank, to laugh and jokingly punch his shoulder so they could pretend that this was all just a slip-up, a one-time thing that didn't mean anything to either of them and they were still friends and nothing about their dynamic had to change.

Mightillustrator didn't smile or laugh. He looked vulnerable, earnest. “I...I have feelings for you,” he said, almost disbelievingly. “Was that not what this was about....?”

“No!” Reverser said, a little too suddenly, regretting it as soon as the words were out of his mouth when Mightillustrator visibly flinched. “I...this wasn't supposed to mean anything, it was...” Reverser stretched out his hand, summoning the glider and turning it into a journal. “You...you thought,”

“Rev,” Might said, reaching out a hand. “I-”

“Don't!” Reverser jerked away, on the verge of hyperventilating. “I-I can't, I don't...” He opened the journal. There was a flash of color, and a fully clothed Marc pressed the book to his chest, leaning forward until his forehead touched his knees, gasping for air in panicked breaths.

Might grabbed his tablet and pen from the floor, quickly drawing himself a new suit. “Hey,” he said, voice cracking.

Tears started to flow from Marc's face, thick and heavy down his cheeks as he buried his face in his hands. “I'm sorry,” he sobbed, shoulders shaking. “I'm sorry.”

“Marc?” Might whispered.

“I didn't mean it,” Marc continued. “I'm sorry.”

“Marc, what do you mean?” Mightillustrator felt a lump forming in his throat. “I thought this was...”

“This didn't mean anything,” Marc choked, shaking his head. “This was a mistake, this wasn't-this wasn't supposed to-”

“Why?”

Marc turned to look at Mightillustrator, the sudden question snapping him out of his panic momentarily.

Mightillustrator's breath shook. “I don't understand,” he pleaded. “Please, can you just tell me what's wrong?”

The miserable look Marc gave him cut his heart into pieces.

“Might,” he said, bottom lip trembling as tears fell silently down his face. “I don't love you.”

There was silence.

Mightillustrator's insides felt like glass. He was motionless, save for the shallow, trembling breaths that splintered his lungs and heart. “Oh,” he breathed, barely discernible under his breath, all too loud in the silence.

Marc stood up quickly, throwing his journal and transforming into Reverser again, the paper suit whole and undamaged on his skin. “I'm sorry,” he said, jumping on the glider and flying away, leaving Mightillustrator alone in an empty room.

Mightillustrator didn't move. He stared at where Reverser had left, open-mouthed, slowly breathing. The thoughts in his head were muddled, unfocused.

Slowly, he got to his feet, legs trembling as he erased the mattress, the blankets, everything that had still remained.

He had to go home.

Relying completely on muscle memory, he drew a pair of wings and flew away, back to his house, erasing the window, collapsing on his bed.

Like a blind man, he fumbled for the texting option on his tablet, tapping on Ladybug's icon.

**Mightillustrator:** Ladybg pls I need yor help

Ladybug arrived in the window minutes later, looking alarmed. “What's wrong?” She asked, readying her weapon. “Where's Reverser?”

Might was huddled on his bed, hugging his pillow to his chest. “Sorry,” he croaked. “I just...I don't want to be akumatized right now, so could you maybe keep watch outside for a bit?”

Ladybug's expression changed from alarmed to worried, and she put her yo-yo away. “What's wrong? Do you want to talk-”

Might shook his head violently, biting his lip as his insides began to break like glass. He gave a choked laugh. “No.”

“Okay,” Ladybug said, nodding gently. She jumped back out of the window and disappeared from sight.

Mightillustrator reached for his pen. With shaky hands he clicked the end, and the suit and tablet vanished, leaving the boy huddled in his bed, shaking.

And Nathaniel cried.


	15. The World in a Thousand Colors

Future Bunnix waved her hand, and the portal that had shown Reverser and his team the events of the plane crash disappeared. “So! Any questions?”

Chat Noir raised an incredulous eyebrow. “I...I don't even know where to start.”

“I do,” Rena Rouge said. “What the actual fuck?”

“Dark Lady believes that our future selves are dead,” Viperion said, crossing his arms. “And our future selves very well could be, for all that we know.”

King Monkey frowned. “Is no one else going to mention that Ladybug called Rena Rouge 'Alya'?”

Rena Rouge froze.

Viperion coughed politely. “We...already knew that.”

“WHAT?” Rena said.

“To be fair, you and Carapace have very distinct speech patterns,” Reverser said. Viperion nodded.

“I didn't know,” King Monkey said.

Chat Noir scratched his head. “I didn't either.”

“That's because you've got the perceptive abilities of a sea cucumber,” Bunnix said, standing up and facing her future self. “But right now we've got a more important issue at hand.”

Future Bunnix nodded. “The Akumas,” she said. “The longer they run free in this timeline, the more unstable it becomes. If we can mitigate some of the damage by targeting more dangerous Akumas, we can keep this timeline intact until Ladybug captures Dark Lady and brings everything back to normal.”

Bunnix stretched. “I know of a few ancient underground crypts about 5,000 years back that we can store them in until then. I'll need your help in getting them in there,” she said, gesturing to the superheroes.

The group looked to Chat Noir, who nodded. “We'll help in any way we can.”

“Chat Noir and Reverser, I need you two to go find Ladybug,” Bunnix ordered. “Figure out their situation and report back to me.”

“Got it.” Chat Noir turned to Reverser. “Split up but stay within range of our radios?”

“That seems like the best idea,” Reverser answered.

“The rest of you, with me.” Bunnix gestured to the group. “Future me, it would be best if you returned to your own timeline. The Akumas are dangerous in this timeline, but two time travelers in the same vicinity...”

Future Bunnix gave a salute. “Roger that. Here,” she handed Bunnix a piece of paper and a small alarm clock. “You'll know what to do.”

With a hop and skip, Future Bunnix was gone.

Bunnix glanced over the paper.

“I'm gonna say it,” King Monkey said. “Time travel is confusing.”

“You don't know the half of it,” Bunnix laughed, tucking the paper in her pocket. “We have a target: Oblivio.”

“Oblivio? Why?”

“If we can use Oblivio's powers, we can help stabilize this timeline,” Bunnix said. “I can erase the memories of the Akumas and add that to my other plan of sending them back to the exact moment they left, minimizing the impact on the past.”

“Good luck controlling an Akuma,” Rena Rouge scoffed.

“We'll figure the rest out on the way,” Bunnix said.

“And again, time travel is still confusing,” King Monkey restated.

“That's why you have me.” Bunnix waved to Chat Noir and Reverser. “Well, see you later, boys.”

“Hopefully.” Chat Noir gave a wink and two-finger salute, backflipping off the building and making his way across Paris. Reverser followed his lead on the glider, though with less flamboyancy and dramatic flair.

Reverser watched Chat Noir until he was barely a speck on the horizon. He didn't work alone with Chat Noir often, but he trusted the cat hero's abilities-to an extent.

“This is Chat Noir to Reverser,” Chat Noir called. “Anything on your end?”

“Yes, that's why I didn't say anything,” Reverser snarked. “What's up?”

Chat Noir was silent. “How are things...between you and Might?”

Reverser's snapped his mouth closed. “Why do you ask?”

“Don't play dumb with me, I've noticed there's been some tension between you two these last few days,” Chat Noir said.

“It's nothing.”

Chat Noir gave a long, heavy sigh on the other side of the radio. “It's not nothing. Feelings can get in the way of your job. Believe me, I know that better than anyone.”

“I'm guessing you're referring to your relationship with Ladybug?”

“Everyone and everyone's mother knew that I loved her,” Chat Noir said. Reverser could almost feel the sad smile on the cat hero's face. “She...didn't feel the same way. It took me a long time to come to terms with that.” He gave a small laugh. “The trouble I caused us both...I'm kind of embarrassed, actually.”

“And now?”

“We both chose to value the friendships we already had instead of looking for love,” Chat Noir said. “It's okay to not have a romantic relationship, especially when work like this takes up a lot of your schedule. If you do find love, that's great, but it's okay if you don't.”

Reverser nodded. “I don't know if Might feels the same way,” he said. “He's kind of a hopeless romantic from what I can guess.”

“Talk with him about it,” Chat Noir advised. “Ladybug wouldn't be as close friends as we are now if we hadn't communicated with each other.”

“Why does everyone want me to talk about it?” Reverser muttered.

“Because you're like a brick wall when it comes to emotions,” Chat Noir responded almost too quickly.

Reverser scoffed.

“You care about Might, don't you? Platonically, I mean.”

There was a beat of silence. “Yeah,” Reverser admitted quietly.

“Then you need to talk to him. Look, I've been through this same situation! I don't want to see you two making the same mistakes Ladybug and I did.”

“Really? You've accidentally fucked your best friend with the miscommunication of it being a one-time thing while the other person was reading into the situation romantically?” Reverser said incredulously.

Chat Noir didn't answer for a while. “No,” he said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I- _wait, you two fucked_?!”

“And now I don't want to talk about it anymore.” Reverser sped away, trying to get out of earpiece range from Chat Noir as fast as possible.

“Hey! Wait! You do _not_ just say something like that and then run away!”

Reverser, in fact, did just that. He was well out of eyesight from Chat Noir when he saw a familiar red-haired artist with wings flying overhead.

“Speak of the devil,” Reverser muttered under his breath. “Hey! Might!”

The artist turned to him, instantly changing his course to head towards Reverser. “Rev, something bad happened,” he said, looking panicked as he landed. “Ryuko and Carapace have been taken out and Dark Lady has the miracle box!”

“What?”

“She managed to get Chloe and turned her into Queen Hornet!”

“What about Ladybug?”

“I can't find her.” The artist turned. “Follow me.”

“How do I know you're not Evillustrator?”

His friend gave an awkward laugh. “I'm not, I swear,” he said. “Can we go?”

Reverser squinted, backing away. “I need to be sure.”

“Come on, Rev! We don't have time, I need you to trust me.” the artist stepped forward. There was a glint in his eyes, the way he was standing, pen in hand rather than strapped to his hip as though he was ready to draw at a moment's notice-

“You're a bad liar,” Reverser said, readying his airplanes. “From skilled work to a novice's level, your hands will no longer create for you.”

The artist lifted his pen. “No knock-out planes?”

“I don't need them for you.”

“You're bluffing.” A grin spread across his face. “You've been overextending yourself, haven't you? That's why you're using a reversion that doesn't take up as much energy.”

When Reverser didn't answer, the Evillustrator's grin only grew wider. “Looks like I'm not the only bad liar, hmm?”

Reverser made the first move.

With a flick of his wrists he sent two airplanes in Evillustrator's direction. Evillustrator dodged, running down the streets of Paris, laughing, as though they were merely playing a game of cat and mouse.

“You should really see what a mess this city has become,” Evillustrator said conversationally, vaulting over an upturned bus. “Pigeons attacking mummies, a giant baby raiding candy stores with the Sapotis while a spider Akuma tries to hunt them all down-half of the citizens are frozen by Akumas like Style Queen and Glaciator, while the other half are mind-controlled by ones like Zombizou or Simon Says.”

Reverser groaned. “Don't remind me. I'm trying to forget about the crushing responsibilities I need to deal with after I kick your ass.”

“You should take some time off,” Evillustrator advised. “Take a vacation. Let me lock you in a box. Go AWOL. Let me lock you in a box.”

“I'm not a fan of the box.”

“How about handcuffs?”

“By a kinky bastard like you? Hard pass.” Reverser circled around one of the buildings to try and head Evillustrator off, but the artist flew up and away from him.

“God, I miss having a friend that wasn't threatening to rip my throat out every 30 seconds,” Evillustrator sighed wistfully. “I mean, I think it's very attractive how ruthless Revisionist can be, but there's a fine line between being commanding and downright violent.”

“That line is your jump rope,” Reverser shot back. “And you deserve the threats.”

“How mean,” Evillustrator pouted.

“And I'm not your friend.”

Sure,” Evillustrator said sarcastically. “Because this is the kind of banter than enemies do.” He flew towards the large glass TVi studio, already erasing one of the windows.

Reverser grit his teeth. “We _are_ enemies.”

Evillustrator rolled into the now-open window, ducking behind the tinted glass where Reverser's planes couldn't reach.

Reverser instantly backpedaled away, dodging the sudden array of chains and nets that materialized out of thin air. He circled around the building in a wide arc, trying to peer through the tinted glass, which did its job and didn't allow him to look inside.

Shit. Evillustrator being able to see him while he couldn't do anything was bad.

He floated up to the roof, one of their team's most frequent night patrol outposts. The door to the inside was crumpled several feet away, as though something large had burst out of the TV station and run away.

Reverser looked around. The screens on the roof were all cracked, and none of them were on. From what he could see inside the building, there were no lights. Whatever had come through here had most likely taken out the power in the building before it left, meaning the building-save for the rooms with the windows-would be in total darkness.

Reverser grinned. Looked like Evillustrator didn't have the upper hand after all.

~oOo~

Evillustrator watched through the dim light of the window as Reverser disappeared over the building. The familiar hum of electricity that was almost always present but never noticeable was gone, and all too noticeable in its absence. In the eerie quiet Evillustrator could hear the subtle creak of a door opening.

“Dammit,” Evillustrator hissed. Looks like the station wasn't as much of an advantage as he had thought. The door to the hallway was open, revealing an endless darkness that spelled a death trap for him.

Should he run away? Risk getting hit by Reverser in an areal battle?

No. He had an advantage here that Reverser didn't know about.

Evillustrator drew a small timer and set it to five minutes. Five minutes to finish this.

He started drawing.

~oOo~

Reverser's footsteps thundered almost too loudly in his ears, the only sound in the hallways as he blindly ran forward, one hand trailing against the wall, the other holding an airplane. His journal was attached firmly to his hip through magic bullshit powers that he had long ago stopped questioning.

As long as he could get to Evillustrator first, he could win.

It was a simple plan. A reckless plan, yes, but Reverser was starting to run out of options. He didn't even have enough energy left to reverse himself in case things went downhill. Whatever reversions he made now had to count.

Footsteps echoed below him, quick and light.

Reverser slowed, quickly making his way towards the stairwell. The emergency lights overhead cast a barely visible red glow, not bright enough for Evillustrator to use.

There was another sound, and Reverser stilled. Were there two people in the building? Did something get knocked over? Was he imagining things?

He listened, but there was only the single pair of footsteps again, quickly running down the hall. Reverser sprinted into the darkness, quickly catching sight of a barely visible, red-haired silhouette as it sprinted towards the nearest source of light at the end of the hall.

“Reversion!” Reverser yelled, throwing his airplane. It hit the figure, who stopped and turned.

“Try drawing now,” Reverser said. “You've lost-”

The figure charged towards Reverser with a sudden ferocity, tackling him to the ground.

“From wake to sleep!” Reverser grabbed the attacker's wrist and summoned an airplane directly into the person's arm. “Reversion!”

The figure didn't stop. It grabbed Reverser's journal, tearing it from his body and throwing it towards the light.

“No!” Reverser struggled, but couldn't manage to throw the attacker off him.

“Not a bad plan,” A voice said from the doorway. Evillustrator stepped forward and picked up the journal. “But this one isn't alive.”

“What-” Reverser tried to sit up but his shoulders were pushed back to the floor by the not-living thing.

“I really am sorry for this,” Evillustrator said, opening the journal to the center and placing a hand on either side of the binding. “But time isn't on my side right now.”

“Don't!”

Evillustrator tore the journal in two.

Reverser's paper suit vanished in a flash of black and white. Without the extra superhero strength, the creature above him quickly overpowered Marc, pinning him helplessly to the ground.

“Let me go!” Marc yelled, trying to kick at the immovable figure above him.

“Bring him here,” Evillustrator ordered. Marc struggled as the figure hoisted him up easily over its shoulder, carrying him into the light and setting him down on the ground.

“Don't try to run,” Evillustrator said. “You know it won't do any good.”

Marc looked up to see two Evillustrators staring back at him.

No. One of them looked like Evillustrator, but there was no light in its eyes. It didn't breathe or twitch or make any micromovements that were indicative of life, but its eyes flicked between Evillustrator and Marc, face expressionless.

“What...what is that?”

“This is my secret power,” Evillustrator said. “After you figured out how to reverse yourself I decided I wasn't going to be the only one without a last resort. It took some time, but I managed to make an almost perfect likeness of myself.”

“Narcissism,” Marc choked, trying to ignore the constricting panic welling in his chest and throat.

Evillustrator laughed. “Maybe so. But I'd say he was quite effective.” With a wave of his hand, the fake Evillustrator disappeared in a shower of blue lights. He picked up a small timer from a nearby desk, checking the time with a quick glance. “I really am sorry that you'll never be a hero again,” he said, setting the two halves of the journal down of the floor and making a few quick motions with his pen. A large metal box materialized around Marc, with only a few small air holes letting in light. “But at least this way you'll be safe.”

Marc felt hot tears prickling the corners of his eyes. He pressed his hands against the walls of the box, but they didn't move.

“Just stay there,” Evillustrator said, his voice slowly fading with his footsteps. “I'll be back-”

The door burst open and Evillustrator gave a sudden yell of surprise. Marc tried to peer through the air holes but he could only hear the solid crack of someone's head against a hard surface, and a soft thud as a body collapsed onto the carpet.

There were a few seconds of tense, silent terror as Marc listened to the indiscernible shuffling of the new arrival. Then, a voice, identical to Evillustrator's but much softer. “Reverser?”

“Might?” Marc called.

A moment of silence. Then a small laugh. “Hey, I promised you could always count on me, didn't I?”

There was a small flash of blue, and parts of the metal box began to disappear. Marc stumbled out into the blue-tinted light and fell straight into the arms of Mightillustrator.

“Marc?” Might knelt down, supporting his friend as Marc collapsed to the floor. “What's wrong? Why aren't you transformed?”

Before Marc could explain, tears started flowing down his cheeks and he buried his head into Mightillustrator's chest. Might instantly wrapped his arms around Marc.

“What happened? What did he do?” Might said, his voice concerned and a little panicked.

“My journal,” Marc hiccuped. “I can't...I can't transform anymore.”

Might looked over. “Oh no,” he whispered, pulling Marc closer against his chest. “Marc, I'm so sorry.”

Marc gave a half-laugh. “It's not your fault,” he mumbled. “You didn't....you didn't tear my journal.”

Mightillustrator's body tensed, and he buried his face into Marc's hair, holding him, a fragile thing at the end of the world.

Marc choked a little. “I guess this is the end of Mightillustrator and Reverser, huh?”

“Don't say that,” Might whispered. “Once we've defeated Dark Lady, Ladybug will fix everything.”

“Once _you've_ defeated Dark Lady,” Marc said, his voice catching a little at the end. He pulled away, reaching for the journal and pulling it to him. The pages were cold, and the colorful light that used to glow in the center of the book was now a dull tear.

Marc hugged the book to his chest, his sobs echoing in the dimly lit room.

~oOo~

Eventually Chat Noir and Ladybug appeared to find Marc huddled in Mightillustrator's embrace, shoulders shaking, too weak to cry audibly.

“Where's Evillustrator?” Ladybug asked.

Might jerked his head to a nearby desk. “I hid him over there,” he said. “And I stole his pen so even if he wakes up he can't transform.”

“And Revisionist?”

“Last I checked, he was still under the pile of rubble that used to be the Eiffel tower.”

“I'll contact Bunnix so she can put them in a time jail or whatever she's doing,” Chat Noir said. “The only thing we can do right now is keep fighting Akumas until Dark Lady makes her move.”

Ladybug knelt down next to Marc, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. “Marc, how long do you think Revisionist's unconscious-making reversions would last?”

Marc sniffed, wiping his eyes with one sleeve. “Hard to say,” he said, his voice barely above a croaky whisper. “Probably...8 to 12 hours, I don't know.”

“We could try to find out where Queen Hornet has taken her,” Chat Noir said. “Deakumatize her while she's knocked out.”

“We'll do both.” Ladybug stood up. “Chat Noir and I will meet up with the rest of the heroes and start spreading out. We'll be looking for Akumas and for Dark Lady. Mightillustrator,” she gave him an apologetic look. “Were you able to un-reverse your drawing abilities?”

Marc looked up at Might, shocked. The artist hero shook his head regretfully. Marc's shoulders hunched, and he buried his face into his jacket.

So that was why Might had gone to find him. He'd needed someone to undo Revisionist's powers. Marc felt more useless than he'd ever felt before.

“I can still fight,” Mightillustrator insisted. “I can still erase things.”

“I know,” Ladybug said. “But I also know that you're exhausted. Chat Noir and I have been recharging our kwamis several times today, but you two have been running on your own energy this whole time. Get some rest.”

“But I-”

“That wasn't a suggestion, Might.” Ladybug's voice became stern.

Might flinched, still holding tightly on to Marc. “Ok,” he whispered, leaning his head against Marc's back. “Ok.”

“It's frustrating,” Marc whispered. “Being so helpless.”

Ladybug's expression softened again. “I'm sorry,” she said. “But Reverser will come back. I promise.”

Might looked down at the two pens strapped to his hip. A sudden thought occurred to him, his heartbeat quickening as his eyes widened. “I have to go,” he said.

Marc let Mightillustrator untangle his limbs from the other boy as the artist sprang to his feet. “Where are you going?”

Mightillustrator was already running out the door.

Ladybug sighed. “I should have guessed,” she muttered.

Chat Noir raised an eyebrow.

“I might be wrong,” she said. “So I'm not going to say anything. Marc, you should probably go.”

“Go where?” Marc looked around, the bizarre and sudden change in Mightillustrator's actions distracting him from his misery for a brief moment. “Most of Paris is destroyed.”

“Hmmm...” Ladybug tapped her chin idly “The Place des Vosges park,” she decided. “With the statue of Chat Noir and I. The area is still intact, and besides, there's something at the park I think you should see.”

“What?”

Ladybug smiled sadly. “I was going to keep it secret until after the trip, but now...well, you'll know it when you see it. Chat Noir, we should go.”

“See you later, Marc,” Chat Noir said, following Ladybug out of the building.

“Yeah,” Marc said, tucking his torn journal into the folds of his jacket and getting to his feet.

He was alone.

No, there was an almost imperceptible sound of someone's deep, slow breathing. A detransformed Evillustrator was sleeping peacefully out of Marc's visual range.

Marc made a move to step forward, but couldn't.

He sighed, turning around, leaving the stranger behind the desk in peace as he left.


	16. Reverser, the Beginning's End

_The beginning of the day before the Present Day_

The next time Reverser saw Mightillustrator was during an Akuma attack.

Which, fair enough, was how they met up most days.

But there was something new in their dynamic now, a tension that was somehow worse than the tension they'd had before. This tension threatened to break them, destroy everything good that they had shared and sour it.

“Might,” Reverser began.

“Later,” Might said, chasing the Akuma down the streets.

The Akuma in question was a four-armed woman that looked like she was carrying an entire country's military arsenal in a single weapon on her shoulder. Her clothes looked like they would be worn by an assassin, save for the vest covered in hundreds of gold medals.

“I am Destructoid!” The Akuma yelled, her pixie-cut hair literally bursting into flames as she screamed. “If you don't respect my creations you'll see just how deadly they can be!” She steadied the weapon on her shoulder, aiming it at the nearest building. Two rockets launched from the weapon, impacting into the side of the building and vaporizing it into ash with an earsplitting explosion and a ball of fire.

Chat Noir landed between Might and Reverser. “Looks like we've got a hothead to deal with,” he said, grinning.

Reverser and Mightillustrator ignored him and started running towards the Akuma.

“Stop this, Destructoid!” Reverser yelled.

“Fuck you!” Destructoid yelled back.

Might turned to look at the TV crew circling overhead on a helicopter. “Hey, this one's not family-friendly,” he called. “So maybe you guys should...” he made a shooing motion.

The TV crew got the hint and started moving away.

“Thanks guys.” Might gave a thumbs up. “Now, for you,” he started drawing, and a box dropped over Destructoid's body, trapping her inside.

“Boom. Easy.”

The box exploded.

Reverser raised an eyebrow. “Well, at least 'Boom' was accurate.”

Several red lasers began converging on their location from Destructoid's weapon.

“But 'easy' might be a little-hey!” Reverser jumped as deadly beams shot towards them, melting the ground where they once stood into terrifyingly ominous puddles.

The Akuma turned and ran.

“You two head it off!” Chat Noir yelled, darting past them. “I'll try to drive her away from major parts of the city!”

Mightillustrator and Reverser began following at an angle, watching as Chat Noir used himself as a decoy to lure the violent Akuma away from buildings.

“Is he heading for the canal?” Might asked.

“I think so.”

Might gave a short nod. They stood on the building, watching the Akuma's smoke trail slowly get smaller.

“I'm sorry for what I said-” Reverser began-

“Sorry for assuming-” Might said at the same time.

They froze.

“You first,” Might said.

Reverser swallowed. “I shouldn't have...I didn't communicate clearly. To be honest, I don't really know what I was doing either.”

“So it was a spur-of-the-moment thing?” Might looked like he couldn't decide whether to be sad or pissed.

“Not exactly.” Reverser rubbed his sleeve. “I mean yes, but...there were a lot of feelings that contributed to what happened.”

Might crossed his arms defensively. “So what, that's it? You just...fuck my brains out and leave and I'm supposed to be okay with that?”

“I-”

“You know this isn't the first time someone's pretended to like me to further their own personal agenda,” Might spat.

Reverser flinched. “I'm sorry.”

Might's saw Reverser's expression and his shoulders dropped. “It's not entirely your fault,” he said. “I've had feelings for you for a while now and I thought you felt the same, and...”

“I do have feelings,” Reverser said. “But...you're my friend. My partner. Outside of hero work you're...a stranger. I can't fall for you.”

Might stayed silent.

Reverser took a slow breath. “What do you mean someone...pretended to like you?”

“When I was an Akuma,” Might said. “I told someone I liked her and she...pretended to like me back so the heroes could catch me off guard. It's....this is just a little too familiar.”

“Oh.”

Might wiped one eye with the palm of his hand and gave a shaky smile to Reverser. “But hey, at least you had some feelings,” he laughed. “That's an...upgrade.”

Reverser wasn't sure what to say. One arm moved away from his body as though he was going to offer his friend a hug, but slowly returned back to his side.

“I'm still your friend,” Might said, his voice a little stronger and more self-assured. “That's not going to change, okay? So don't you dare try and treat me like I need pity.”

“We could pretend it never happened,” Reverser suggested. “Nothing has to change.”

An unreadable expression flitted across Mightillustrator's face. “You said you still had feelings for me somewhere?” He joked, a grin lifting the corner of his mouth.

“Let's not-”

The ground shook with a loud thud.

“Might! Reverser!” Chat Noir yelled. “Where are you two?!”

“This is Ladybug,” another voice yelled. “There's an Amok called the Mecha heading towards the Mayor! I need help!”

“I'll go after the Akuma,” Reverser said. “You go help Ladybug.”

Might looked out at the tentacled mechanical behemoth that had recently become a new addition to the horizon. “I'm tempted to make a joke about anime and tentacles but since _I'm_ going to be fighting that thing I'd rather not jinx myself,” he said.

Reverser snorted. “See you later, Might.”

“Yeah.”

Reverser glided off to help face Destructoid.

Less than five minutes later Mightillustrator arrived to find Ladybug in the process of being swung around like a leaf on a stick by a long mechanical arm that had managed to grab hold of her yo-yo and was in the process of hurling her against every possible surface.

“Hey!” Might yelled, erasing the bit of metal where the amok had snagged onto the yo-yo. “That's impolite!”

Ladybug flew free, landing on a nearby roof and stumbling as her head whirled.

“You good?” Might asked, jumping by.

“Yeah,” Ladybug said. “Just give me a moment until my head stops spinning.”

“Moment given.” Mightillustrator jumped away.

“So,” Ladybug said, running towards the Mecha. “Did you sort things out with Reverser?”

Might stumbled, both physically and verbally. “I...uh...”

“I don't know any details,” Ladybug quickly said. “But I know you were upset.”

“We had a problem,” Might said. “But we're not letting it come between us.”

“That's good.”

“I'm not going to let it go.” Might drew a long slab of wood, running across it to the next building before a metal arm swung down and broke it in half. “Not until I have answers.”

Ladybug frowned. “You have to respect Reverser's decision,” she said.

“And I will! But I need to know why first,” Might said. “Is that too much to ask?”

“For some people, yes.”

Might sighed. “I'll try to get answers,” he restated. “But I won't force him to tell me.”

“That's better.”

“I fully intend to be a prick in his side, though.”

“When are you not?” Chat Noir's voice called in through the earpiece.

Might choked. “How long have you been listening?”

“I just caught the last bit,” Chat Noir said. “Destructoid disappeared, so Reverser's patrolling where we last saw her and I'm on my way to help you.”

“Uh....” Might turned as the Mecha suddenly lit up, the little black semicircle on top of its body suddenly glowing with thousands of red lights. A rocket launcher extended from one of the tiles. “Apparently the Mecha is equipped with the same weapons as Destructoid. That's...that's bad.”

“Might, I need you on the ground!” Ladybug yelled. “Chat Noir, call Reverser and then get here now! We'll need everyone to defeat this!”

The heroes ran towards the Mecha, ready to fight for their lives. The midday sun was shining, the sky somewhat cloudy, the air a little humid but not too unbearably stifling.

It was a normal day in Paris.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art of Destructoid: https://dragonchris.tumblr.com/post/629344789997944832/art-for-chapter-sixteen-of-miracles-stories-of


	17. The Artist and the Writer

It was early afternoon by the time Marc reached the Place des Vosges park, but no one would have been able to tell with dark magical clouds rolling across the entire sky, encasing the city in a perpetual night.

There was no one around. No civilians, no Akumas, nobody. Just him. Alone.

Marc shivered, pulling his hood over his head and hoisting his backpack higher on his shoulders as he looked up at the statue of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Ladybug's head had been severed clean from the statue, probably by some vengeful Akuma.

With a tired sigh, he sat down in the grass, leaning against the statue and setting the backpack in front of him. He had transformed this morning with it on so that he'd have it with him on his travels. There were some spare clothes, a toothbrush, other travel items, some homework, and a new black journal for writing about everything he was going to experience.

With trembling hands, Marc pulled the journal out and opened it up to the empty first page. He fished out a pencil, needing to write everything down, get it out of his head so his heart would stop hurting, so his throat wouldn't be so choked, so he could turn this nightmare into pencil lead and tangible words that would make this all this pain have meaning somehow and make sense of this-

His pencil hovered above the first page, motionless.

Tears began to fall from Marc's eyes again, dripping onto the paper, telling everything that his words could not.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered to the emptiness. “I'm sorry.”

Something fluttered in his peripheral vision and made him pause, looking up. There was something new in the park, a large structure under a gray tarp that was lightly blowing in the wind.

Marc got to his feet, as though he were in a trance. There were a few machines to the side, suggesting that the structure had been moved here rather than built in the square.

Was this what Ladybug wanted him to see?

Grabbing the tarp in both hands, he pulled, slowly dragging it away. It slid off the structure and caught the wind, flying out of his grasp.

He turned back to the structure and froze.

It was a mural.

Colorful lines of graffiti decorated the large wall in every possible hue, hypnotic in its vibrancy, even in the dim lights of the overcast square.

In the center of the mural were two figures. One was an artist hero with bright red hair, snow-white wings, and an ever-present smile on his face. The other was a monochrome hero with a magic glider and a determined, capable expression in his posture.

Marc stared up at the two heroes.

They looked ethereal, encased in paint like this, as though they were too perfect to be real. Drawn like this, no one would ever suspect what kind of a mess he was.

Reverser was a hero, cunning and observant.

Marc was a sandcastle and life was a 3-year old asshole toddler with a stick.

Paris needed Reverser.

They didn't need Marc.

And now Reverser was gone.

Forever.

Marc hugged his jacket around his body, the torn halves of his journal pressing against his stomach.

Footsteps sounded behind him, soft, non-threatening, but Marc's breath hitched anyway. He pulled his hoodie up even further and looked down, staring pointedly at his boots as the footsteps stopped. He could hear the other person breathing, his own trembling breaths, and the chill wind against the leaves and grass in the square.

“I know I said it'd be cool to have a statue of yourself in one of the oldest squares in Paris, but this is more our style, don't you think?”

Marc stiffened.

Slowly, disbelievingly, he turned.

Nathaniel was looking up at the mural, one hand on the strap of his blue satchel, the other twirling a familiar pen around in his fingers.

“Alix and I were on the team that helped make it,” he said, still looking up at the wall. “It was supposed to be a surprise for the heroes when we returned to Paris but they asked me to help with the design so...” his eyes flitted to Marc's for a second. “I did my best to keep it a secret from you. But...maybe some secrets are meant to be shared.”

Marc blinked, mouth agape.

Nathaniel chuckled nervously. “I'm not good at admitting my feelings when I'm not Mightillustrator,” he admitted. “You're right, Might isn't real. That spiel about superhero personas? It's all bullshit. But...as Mightillustrator I can say and do things that I never would have been able to as Nathaniel. I was too afraid to tell you how I felt like this, not when I cared so much about you.”

“You...you're...” Marc's mouth opened and closed, stuttering.

Nathaniel turned to face Marc, taking a deep breath. “Marc,” he said, as though it was the most important word he would ever say. “I have feelings for you.”

Marc had stopped functioning at this point.

Nathaniel shifted awkwardly, fidgeting with the pen in his hand. “And I should have told you sooner as...myself,” he said, “and I'm really hoping right now that Revisionist wasn't just pulling a massive dick move prank on me because this is admittedly the most scared I have ever been-”

Marc stepped forward and pulled Nathaniel into a hug.

“Oh, okay,” Nathaniel said, tensing for a second before relaxing into Marc's hold once he realized Marc wasn't stepping forward to hurt him.

Marc began crying again.

“Oh, no,” Nathaniel said, wrapping his arms around Marc.

“You _asshole_ ,” Marc blubbered, burying his face into Nathaniel's neck, laughing as tears ran freely down his cheeks and into Nathaniel's jacket. “Fuck you.”

“You've already, uh, done that,” Nathaniel said, his voice cracking a little. Marc snorted-or sobbed, it was kind of hard to tell-and let everything about the two of them fall to pieces and shatter, as they held each other together, rebuilding into something new, something stronger.

“How many times are you going to make me cry today?” Marc sputtered, barely able to talk through his tears.

Nathaniel winced. “I'm sorry,” he said, choking a little as tears also started to fall down his face.

Marc cried his heart through his throat, all of his pain and his joy and his confusing feelings out in the open, until there were no more hidden pains in his chest, only Nathaniel and Marc, crying in the square until they couldn't cry anymore, limbs and breath shaking, holding each other together.

“You owe me,” Marc whispered.

“Whatever you want.”

“When all this is over,” Marc said. “Let's go out for ice cream.”

Nath laughed softly. “Chocolate-Vanilla and Neapolitan?”

Marc nodded. “From Andre.”

“It's a date then.”

Marc stepped away, just far enough that he could look at Nathaniel's face, both with red noses and cheeks, both pairs of eyes rimmed with tears, smiling and holding each other and so, so in love the mural couldn't do the two of them justice. Marc's hands rested on Nathaniel's forearms, Nathaniel's arms wrapped around his middle.

“When this is all over,” Nathaniel said. “I promise we'll go on as many ice cream dates as you want.”

The pen in Nathaniel's hand flashed with a momentary light, a signal that someone was using the radio.

Nathaniel sighed. “Looks like they found something,” he said.

Marc leaned forward, pressing a light kiss to Nathaniel's cheek. “Okay,” he said, his heart pounding. “Go save Paris.”

“I can't do it without my partner,” Nathaniel said, smiling.

Marc's face fell. “I can't,” he said. “Reverser-”

“Reverser isn't gone yet.”

Nathaniel opened his satchel and pulled out a familiar black journal, holding it out to Marc.

“What?” Marc's hands flitted to his jacket pocket, feeling for the still broken journal-

“I managed to get to Revisionist before Bunnix took him away,” Nathaniel said. “It took me a while, since there was a lot of rubble to look through, but I found it.”

Marc grabbed the journal and flipped it open. It was warm to the touch, responsive, opening to the large multicolored tear in the page as though it knew exactly what Marc was looking for.

“Well?”

Marc touched the seam and everything turned black and white.

Nathaniel stepped back as the glider shot out, up into the air. Reverser laughed, looking up into the sky, arms outstretched. “Nath,” he said. “Nathaniel, you wonderful, incredible, amazing-I could kiss you right now!”

Nathaniel stuttered. “I mean...I mean, you _could_ ,” he said, turning red.

Reverser looked at him, eyes wide. “Can I?”

“Well...yeah,” Nathaniel stepped forward, looking up at him. “If you want to.”

And something inside Reverser became whole again.

His arms wrapped around Nathaniel as he leaned down and kissed the artist, a soft and fervent kiss that was full of adoration and a sweet feeling that filled him like a breath of energy in his lungs and everything was alright in the world for that one moment, and one moment more, and another moment as Reverser shared another kiss and another with Nathaniel.

“Rev,” Nathaniel laughed, placing a hand on Reverser's cheek and lightly pushing him away. Reverser gave a fond smile back. “Saving Paris comes first.”

“Right,” Reverser said. “But didn't Ladybug say you should take a few hours off first? Since you used up a lot of energy?”

“I already solved that,” Nathaniel said, opening his satchel again and pulling out a few energy drinks. “All the cafes are closed for obvious reasons, but I managed to snag a few of these from a nearby store on the way here.”

Reverser raised an eyebrow. “You stole it?”

“We're saving Paris,” Nathaniel said, handing a can to Reverser. “I'd call it a necessary crime.”

“Did you at least leave money or something?”

“I still can't draw,” Nathaniel said, pouting. “No wings, no money, nothing, thanks to Revisionist. It sucks.”

“You have your wallet though, don't you?”

Nathaniel stopped. “I didn't think of that,” he said, a sheepish red tint appearing on his face.

Reverser pressed his lips against Nathaniel's forehead, burying his nose in his soft red locks, quietly laughing.

“How about this,” Nathaniel proposed. “You reverse me so I can draw again. We go kick ass and save Paris. I solve the money problem afterwards. We go on a date or something.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Reverser said, forming an airplane in his hands. “The skills you worked so hard for will return to you once again.” He pressed the airplane against Nathaniel's chest, letting his hand rest over the other's beating heart for a second longer.

Nathaniel chuckled, a quiet sound that Reverser could feel under his fingers. “Always so skilled with you words,” he murmured.

Reverser turned to look at the mural, smiling. Their hero selves smiled back.

There was a flash of color, and Mightillustrator wrapped his arm around Reverser's waist. “Let's go be heroes again.”


	18. Dark Lady

“Hello? Calling all heroes, what's your status?” Ladybug's desperate voice shouted over the radio channel. “Chat Noir and I are currently fighting Dark Lady!”

“How is that possible?” Mightillustrator called back, newly-drawn wings flapping as he rose into the sky, closely followed by Reverser. “We still had a few hours left before the reversion ended!”

“About that,” Chat Noir said. “Queen Hornet's found a very dangerous friend.”

~oOo~

Ladybug and Chat Noir battled their enemies in yet another ambiguous section of Paris, with a few nondescript buildings, some wayward streets, a memorable landmark in the distance (this time it was the Louvre), and a few bloodthirsty villains.

“From enemy to friend!” Miraculer said, summoning an airplane in her hand and pointing it at Chat Noir. “Reversion!”

“Of all the Akumas to have on her side,” Ladybug hissed as she dodged the barrage of airplanes. “It had to be the one that could steal other people's powers?”

“Looks like she already has yours, mine, Reverser's, and Mightillustrator's,” Chat Noir said, sidestepping as Miraculer lunged forward with her baton. “Hey! You already have mine, stop trying to steal it again!”

“StOp tRyIng To sTEaL iT aGaIn,” Miraculer mocked, sticking her tongue out.

“Hey-” Chat Noir started, but a kick to the gut sent him flying into a nearby balcony, denting the metal framing with the impact.

“Chloeeeee!” Miraculer sprung up like an excitable child. “Did you see that?”

“I told you to call me Queen Hornet!” The villain snapped, stomping a foot on the ground.

Dark Lady growled. “And I told you to stop standing around and fight!” She clashed with Ladybug, their yo-yos deflecting and shooting off in opposite directions.

“Hey, Queen Bitchface!”

A half crumpled energy drink flew from the sky and hit Queen Hornet in the face. Reverser and Mightillustrator soared overhead like two troublesome birds aware of their sins and intending to create more.

“Aww,” Reverser said. “If I'd known you were going to let it hit you I would have used an airplane.”

“Tough luck,” Mightillustrator said, chucking his own can towards the villain's head.

“Hey, Reverser!” Chat Noir's face brightened. “You're back!”

“I'm back!” Reverser said, throwing his hands in the air and smiling widely.

“This is Bunnix,” a voice on the radio called. “I'm on my way!”

Ladybug smiled. “Looks like the odds are turning in our favor, Dark Lady.”

Dark Lady growled, jumping away. “Don't think you have the upper hand just yet. Miraculer!”

Miraculer snapped to attention.

“Give me the cataclysm power,” Dark Lady said, not breaking eye contact with Ladybug.

Miraculer looked to Queen Hornet, who nodded. “One superpower, coming up!”

“Don't!” Chat Noir yelled, running forward. Dark Lady watching him run to her, an eager glint in her black eyes.

“Chat Noir!” Mightillustrator and Reverser dived for the cat hero. Reverser got to him first, grabbing him by one arm. Mightillustrator grabbed the other, pulling him up into the sky just as Dark Lady suddenly jumped forward, hand outstretched.

“You can't get near her,” Reverser chided. “She's trying to get you specifically.”

Chat Noir's legs kicked uselessly in the air. “Let me go!” He yelled. “I'm gonna fight!”

“You're not fighting Dark Lady,” Mightillustrator said with a stern face. “We'll handle her.”

Chat Noir slumped like a kitten being held by the scruff of his neck. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Let me go.”

Reverser and Mightillustrator glanced at each other and let go of Chat Noir's arms at the same time, unceremoniously dropping him onto a nearby lamppost.

Ladybug swung her yo-yo towards her Akuma self, but Queen Bee's spinning top connected with it before it could reach Dark Lady. “Sorry, Ladybug,” she said. “But you don't get to stop this.”

Miraculer pressed her baton to Dark Lady's chest. There was a flash of energy and the spots on Dark Lady's suit became decorated with little green cat's paws. “You can use it as many times as you like,” she said, grinning.

Dark Lady raised her eyebrows. “Well that's certainly handy,” she said, facing Ladybug again. “Cataclysm!” Her yo-yo began to crackle with destructive energy.

“Ladybug!” Chat Noir yelled.

“From a skilled fighter to a novice!” Reverser threw his airplane as Dark Lady, connecting with the yo-yo and canceling out both magical powers. The airplane crumbled to dust.

Dark Lady turned a sudden and furious gaze to Reverser. “Cataclysm,” she repeated, glaring.

Reverser paled. “Shit.”

Mightillustrator flew towards Reverser but Queen Hornet threw her spinning top in front of his face, halting him in his tracks.

“Poor, sweet, Mightillustrator,” Miraculer cooed in a condescending voice. “You insulted Queen Hornet. Naughty boys like you need to be punished.”

Mightillustrator's eyebrow's raised. “I will literally pay you money to never say those words again.”

“Sorry, but you can't bribe your way out of my wrath,” Miraculer said.

“Look, I'm not worried about you fighting me, let me make that clear right now. I just don't want you to ever speak to me like that. Ever.”

Miraculer cackled. “Don't underestimate me!” The tip of her baton began to glow with blue energy. “Let's see how your drawings work against a GUN!”

“Whoah, whoah, whoah!” Chat Noir backed up. “Can she do that?”

Mightillustrator crossed his arms, looking unimpressed. “Alright then,” he said. “Do it.”

Miraculer cackled, using the tip of her baton to create glowing lines in the air. Her confidence slowly wavered as the lines began to look more like a confusing Tetris block than an actual object, eventually dissipating into nothing.

There was an awkward silence, accentuated by the slow clapping of Mightillustrator. “Word of advice,” he said, pulling out his pen. “Guns are hard to draw without reference pics. Stick to drawing what you know.” A buzzsaw formed in the sky above Mightillustrator's head.

Queen Hornet scoffed. “Utterly useless,” she sneered, causing Miraculer's shoulders to droop dejectedly.

Reverser and Ladybug danced around Dark Lady. Chat Noir and Mightillustrator circled around Miraculer and Queen Hornet.

“Need a hand?”

Bunnix jumped up onto the awning of a nearby ambiguously structured building, her umbrella slung around her shoulders.

“Did anyone else come with you?” Ladybug asked, yanking a potted shrub off of someone's balcony and using it to block Dark Lady's cataclysm-charged yo-yo.

Bunnix jumped towards Queen Hornet. “Things went a little downhill,” she said, smacking the villain across the face with her umbrella while she was still too stunned to react. “We went to go find Ryuko but Oblivio had gotten to her first. We managed to subdue them, but they got Viperion, too.”

“What about Rena Rouge and King Monkey?”

“They found Carapace. Apparently he'd been reversed by Revisionist and attacked Rena Rouge on sight. Last I checked they were still fighting him.”

Queen Hornet aimed a kick at Bunnix's midriff as Miraculer lunged forward with her baton. Bunnix easily sidestepped them both, causing the two to crash into each other.

“Ugh, you dolt!” Queen Hornet pushed Miraculer away.

“Sorry!” Miraculer said, jumping back.

“You ruined my hair,” Queen Hornet complained, adjusting the hairpiece holding her ponytail.

“Ugh, again with the hair!” Mightillustrator complained. “Let's talk about your ruined personality for a change-”

His eyes flitted to the bee hairpin.

“Actually, let's talk about your ruined hair,” he said, making a few quick strokes with his pen. “Bunnix! Get ready!”

“Chat Noir!” Bunnix kicked Miraculer towards the cat hero, who swung at her with his baton.

“How's this for bad hair?” Mightillustrator crowed, erasing a chunk of the villain's golden locks, freeing the bee miraculous from its clasp.

Queen Hornet gave a shrieking wail, hands flying up to her head. Bunnix used the moment of distraction to snatch the bee miraculous away, detransforming her.

Chloe dropped to her knees. “MY HAIR!” She screamed, holding the disconnected locks in her shaking hands. “YOU FUCKING MONSTER!”

“Whoopsie,” Might said, sticking his tongue out unapologetically.

“I'LL FUCKING RIP YOUR THROAT OUT!” Chloe screamed, her voice raw with fury.

“You can erase parts of people?” Chat Noir said, raising his eyebrows. “That's scary.”

“Only hair and nails,” Mightillustrator said.

“KILL HIM!” Chloe screamed, turning to Miraculer.

“Kill me yourself!” Might yelled back.

Chloe's set her jaw, scowling. “Miraculer, new plan. Get me the bee miraculous,” she hissed.

Bunnix jumped away as Miraculer instantly lunged for her. “This Akuma might be tricky,” she yelled to the rest of the group. “So I'm gonna lead her away first, okay?”

“Fine by me!” Chat Noir gave a thumbs up.

Bunnix started to hop away, followed by Miraculer and shouted at by Chloe.

Once they were out of eyesight, Chloe turned her rage to Mightillustrator, leaping at him over the balcony separation with an angry shriek. “How dare you!”

Mightillustrator held her at arm's length with one hand. “Hey, I get it, your hair is important to you and it really sucks that I erased some of it-”

“I'm going to fucking break your fingers!”

“-but have you considered that maybe you deserve it?”

“Just wait until my Daddy hears about what you did-”

“I mean, really,” Mightillustrator continued, completely ignoring her fruitless attempts to scratch at his face. “You are genuinely not a good person.”

“He'll call the police, the army-”

Mightillustrator gave a long, dramatic sigh. “I guess the only way you'll be able to fix your hair is if Ladybug uses her lucky charm and fixes everything, huh?”

Chloe paused, staring at him.

“It's too bad you're on Dark Lady's side,” Mightillustrator continued, watching the conflicting emotions dance across her face like a one-person theater performance.

“Lucky Charm!” Ladybug yelled, throwing her yo-yo in the air. Reverser flew in front of her, using his airplanes to keep Dark Lady's cataclysms at bay.

“It would really help us if you didn't fight for her,” Might said, raising an eyebrow.

Chloe's lips pursed and her brow furrowed.

Dark Lady noticed this. “Oh, come on!” She hissed.

“What's the matter?” Chat Noir asked, moving around in a wide arc to flank Dark Lady. “Feeling a little outnumbered?”

A pencil dropped into Ladybug's hands.

Dark Lady swiped at Chat Noir like a wild animal, baring her teeth when he nimbly dodged out of the way.

“You're right,” Chloe said, a determined look settling on her face.

Dark Lady gave her a furious and almost panicked look.

“Good,” Mightillustrator said. “So stay out of the way and-”

Chloe was already running towards Dark Lady. “I'll fight you myself!”

“No!” Ladybug yelled.

“What a thorn in my side,” Dark Lady said, twirling her yo-yo. “Cataclysm.”

Chloe gave a war cry, running towards the villain.

Dark Lady threw her yo-yo.

Time seemed to slow. Chloe's face of baseless courage quickly turned to a face of sheer terror as she saw the approaching destruction.

Reverser threw his airplane a second too late.

Mightillustrator snapped out of his shock and ran forward.

Ladybug slammed into Chloe, knocking her out of the way as the yo-yo swung in a deadly arc and impacted into the heroine with a sickening thud.

There was a crackling sound as the cataclysm discharged into her stomach, just below her ribs.

Chloe landed safely a few feet away, skidding against the floor of the rooftop balcony. She didn't make a sound, only staring up in horror.

Dark Lady smiled.

Ladybug opened her mouth, as though to speak.

Blood pooled around the corners of his lips, running down her chin and splattering on the floor as a gurgling cough rose from her throat.

“Oh, that's too bad,” Dark Lady said, pulling the yo-yo to herself. “If you were hit in ribs, you might have survived a bit longer, but once you've lost your internal organs you're done.”

Ladybug took a step forward, eyes beginning to glaze over.

Dark Lady raised her chin.

“Bye-bye, Ladybug.”

And Ladybug collapsed.

Mightillustrator was the first to run forward, scooping her up in his arms and dashing away with a burst of his wings.

Dark Lady watched him fly away with a disinterested expression.

“You monster!” Chat Noir yelled.

Dark Lady turned to him. “She was in my way,” the chillingly identical voice of Ladybug said, cold and uncaring. “Consider it a warning for you.”

“I'm gonna make you pay!” Chat Noir gripped his baton, knuckles white under his suit. “Do you hear me?!”

Reverser was frozen in the air, heart pounding.

This wasn't real.

This couldn't be real.

But the tears prickling in Chat Noir's eyes, the shock in Chloe's face, the blood on the ground-

Oh god.

Reverser floated to the ground, not trusting himself to keep his balance on the glider. His legs shook as he stepped away, breath quick and shaky.

“You're still outnumbered,” he said, trying to hide the fear in his voice. “You won't win.”

Dark Lady turned to him. Her eyes flicked up to something behind him, then back down. “I'm not outnumbered,” she said simply.

A shadow cast itself over Reverser's frame, and a chill ran down his spine, as sudden and as frozen as the lakes of hell.

“You know the saying,” Dark Lady said, as Reverser turned. “If you want something done right,”

Reverser stared up in fear into Hawkmoth's face.

“Do it yourself.”

~oOo~

Mightillustrator flew as fast as his wings would allow him, looking around for a hospital, a clinic, _anything-_

Ladybug hacked weakly, arms wrapped around Mightillustrator's body, barely able to hold on.

Nothing. Not even a pharmacy.

“Just stay with me,” Might gasped, angling down towards an alleyway. “Just stay with me.”

As gently as he could, Mightillustrator landed in the shadows of a building, angled away from the main street and providing a little bit of privacy. There was a backdoor to someone's house nearby, unlocked and partly open, and Mightillustrator considered pulling her inside, but the moment he let her go the heroine's grip loosened and she fell to the dirty streets, one hand clutching her Lucky Charm, the other trying to cover her mouth as she hacked up blood.

“Hey,” Mightillustrator said, turning to her. “I'm going to get help. Just stay here, okay?”

“Might,” Ladybug gasped.

“You're going to be just fine,” Might said, his face betraying him as tears started falling down his face.

Ladybug grabbed his hand, the blood in her palm smearing on his fingers. “Don't go,” she said, her voice reedy and strained.

“I'm gonna find help,” Might said, finding himself unable to pull away from Ladybug's grip.

“It's too late,” she said.

Mightillustrator dropped to his knees. Panic rose in his chest as he knelt over Ladybug's body. “Please don't die,” he sobbed. “We need you, what are we going to do if you...”

Ladybug's hand cupped his cheek. “You're still as earnest as when we first met,” she said, a smile on her face. “You're a great hero, Might.”

“No,” Might said, his chest heaving with sobs. “No, not without you!”

“Mightillustrator...”

Might bit his lip hard enough to taste blood. “I can't do this without you,” he croaked. “I don't know how. What do I do? What do I....?”

Ladybug smiled. “You'll do what you've always done,” she said, pressing the spotted pencil into his hand. “Work with them and save Paris.”

Might sobbed, holding the hand of his friend and his mentor, listening as she gave him instructions, her voice growing weaker with every breath, his cries growing quieter as he tried to listen to every word, until there was only silence.

It was approximately the afternoon of the present day when Ladybug died.


	19. The Final Stand

“Hello, Reverser,” Hawkmoth said, his voice cold and emotionless.

Reverser wanted to run, to fight, to do _something, anything_ , but his legs wouldn't move.

“If I recall, you used to be an Akuma,” Hawkmoth said, fingers drumming across the top of his cane. “But your hero initiation erased my memory of you.”

The look Hawkmoth was giving him was comparable to a lion staring down a mouse-at least, that's how it felt like to Reverser. He swallowed, glancing up at Paris' main villain, and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind:

“Holy _fuck_ you're tall.”

Hawkmoth faltered a little. “Excuse me?”

Chloe chose that moment to kick Hawkmoth in the shins.

Hawkmoth grunted, and Reverser snapped out of his fear long enough to step backwards and leap off of the building, onto his glider, away from both Dark Lady and Hawkmoth.

To Reverser's surprise, Hawkmoth didn't jump after him or even attack Chloe. He turned and walked to the edge of the rooftop, standing and watching them as though he was merely a spectator and not Paris's main villain.

Reverser turned to look at Dark Lady and Chat Noir. Chat Noir was visibly shaking with rage, Hawkmoth's appearance being the only thing that had stopped him from charging forward at a mindless rampage. Dark Lady was also watching Hawkmoth with an emotionless expression.

“Are you...going to fight?”

Hawkmoth gave a low chuckle. “I don't need to,” he said. “Even if Dark Lady loses I will still be victorious.”

Chat Noir bared his teeth, but Reverser held up a hand. They needed information, and a boasting villain could sometimes give valuable information to turn the fight in their favor.“How?”

Hawkmoth looked over at Dark Lady. “Tell me,” he said. “Have you figured out where the Akuma is hiding?”

“Yeah!” Chat Noir said. “Her earrings!”

“Her earrings,” Reverser whispered, the shock numbing his body like a toxin. “We have to destroy her earrings.”

Hawkmoth's smile became almost threateningly wide. “Either you lose now, or you succeed and I learn Ladybug's identity,” he said. “It's a win-win situation for me.”

Chat Noir whipped around to face Dark Lady. “Ladybug-”

“Dark Lady,” she snapped back.

“-listen to me! I know what happened to you on the airplane. It's an illusion! No one's dead, you don't have to-”

“Shut up.” Dark Lady scowled. “I don't believe you.”

“Good,” Hawkmoth said. “He only wants to save himself, Dark Lady. Don't give in.”

The hatred in Chat Noir's eyes died away, replaced with an empty despair. “So there's nothing we can do?” He looked pleadingly at Reverser, hoping that he'd have at least something, know of some idea-

But the look of dread in Reverser's eyes mirrored his own.

Hawkmoth turned to Dark Lady. “Take it.”

“Cataclysm,” Dark Lady said, causally swinging her yo-yo in wide arcs around her body.

Reverser made a decision.

“Chat Noir,” he said. “I need you to run.”

“What?”

“I'll fight her.”

Chat Noir's eyes were cat-like slits. “No!”

“I'm not giving you a choice!” Reverser shouted. “GO!”

“I'm staying!”

“I'm not going to let you-”

“I'm not letting anyone else get hurt for me!” Chat Noir screamed. “I can't!”

Reverser set his jaw in a determined line, readying his airplane. “You will.”

Chloe got to her feet, clenching her fists. “We got this,” she said. “We'll save Paris-”

“ _From stay to go or whatever-the-fuck get out of here,_ ” Reverser hit Chloe with the airplane and she instantly turned and ran.

Reverser flew to the rooftop where Dark Lady was standing. Deliberately, he stepped off the glider and sent it flying away, circling to flank Dark Lady.

Dark Lady turned and swung her yo-yo at the glider, but Reverser gave a mental command and it moved out of the way, Dark Lady's yo-yo hitting the side of the building instead and turning it to ash.

Her cataclysm spread across the walls like a plague, the rest of the building shaking as the beams slowly disappeared. With a gravely sound, the bricks began to fall, and the building lurched, sliding towards the ground at a tilted angle.

“From villain to hero,” Reverser whispered under the roaring noise of creaking metal and crumbling stone.

And Reverser lunged forward.

Dark Lady spun around, hand outstretched, grabbing him by the neck with snake-like speed and accuracy.

“Revisionist,” she said. “Welcome back.”

“Reversion,” Reverser gasped, as his mind left him.

There was a sudden feeling as though he'd suddenly been submerged underwater, the deep pressure pounding against his temples as his legs gave out from under him and his energy was sucked from his body.

They were falling. Reverser felt like his mind was crumbling with the building, losing all sense of direction. He tried to move his limbs to protect himself, but he couldn't move, a helpless rag doll tumbling through the air.

There was a high pitched sound in his ears. No, not a ringing, it was too loud.

It was screaming.

Gradually, the building settled at an angle, quieting. Now Reverser could only hear Dark Lady, screeching as though her eyes were being gouged out.

She stumbled over his body, hands over her ears, writhing in agony, mouth wide, teeth bared, screaming so loudly her throat sounded like it would tear apart from the sound.

Little flecks of magic spiraled around her head, materializing into an unpurified purple Akuma, making its way into the sky.

“No,” Reverser tried to say. “Catch it.” But his lips wouldn't move, he could barely muster the energy to breathe. He could only stare dully as Ladybug collapsed on the ground next to him, her screams cut short as her body collapsed.

“Cataclysm!” Chat Noir used his baton to vault himself into the air, grabbing the Akuma with a clawed hand. The Akuma crumbled to dust between his fingers.

“Ladybug!” Chat Noir ran to the de-akumatized superheroine's side “Ladybug, wake up! Come on! Breathe!”

Reverser felt a sinking feeling in his chest, buried among the numbness of his entire body.

Did he....?

“Ladybug?” Chat Noir shook her gently. “Ladybug, come on! No, no, no, not again, not again-”

Fuck.

Fuck!

Reverser would have cried if his face could move. Instead he could only watch as Chat Noir turned to Hawkmoth, outside of his field of vision.

“Well then,” Hawkmoth said. “I guess you're all that's in my way.”

Chat Noir readied his baton.

Hawkmoth lunged forward, unsheathing his sword in a quick, smooth motion.

Reverser struggled to move, the quick sounds of metal striking metal ringing above him as Hawkmoth and Chat Noir dodged and weaved around his paralyzed body.

Slowly, like he was dragging the weight of the world with him, he forced himself to roll on his side, using the half-snapped balcony next to him for support. He lifted himself to a sitting position and leaned into the rubble, struggling for breath as his vision blurred in and out of focus.

Hawkmoth was quickly overpowering Chat Noir, dashing forward and backwards with quick, agile strikes while Chat Noir's breath grew ragged and his movements gradually slowed, the toll of fighting for an entire day slowly taking its effect on him.

Hawkmoth knocked him to the ground, pointing the end of his sword at Chat Noir's throat. “Your time's running out,” he said, glancing at the beeping ring on Chat Noir's finger. “You've lost.”

“We haven't lost yet.”

Hawkmoth turned to Reverser, who was shakily getting to his feet. Tears that meant a thousand different things gathered at the edges of his eyes. His heart stuttered in his chest, as though it might give out at any second.

“Not yet,” Reverser gasped. “It's not over.”

Hawkmoth gave him an incredulous look.

“We'll keep fighting.”

Reverser took a step forward.

“As long as it takes.”

Another step.

“Until you're defeated.”

Hawkmoth's cane cracked over Reverser's knees, dropping him to the ground instantly.

“You're too weak to use your powers,” Hawkmoth said. “Trying to fight me is an insult at this point.”

Reverser struggled to stand back up. “Not yet,” he choked. “I promised Might I'd talk with him once we won, so I'm not...I'm not giving up.”

Hawkmoth's exasperation only grew. “You can't win!” He slammed the cane into Reverser's ribs, pushing him back. Reverser grabbed the edge of the balcony.

Chat Noir bucked and writhed under Hawkmoth's foot, but the villain only pressed his sword back against his throat.

“No, no,” Reverser said, shaking his head, his words slurring. “I have to....have to tell him things.”

Hawkmoth sighed. “You're delirious,” he said, abruptly turning his attention back to Chat Noir. “This ends now.”

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

Reverser's heart skipped a beat.

There was a rush of wind, blowing through the sky, sudden and unexpected. In the distance, buildings were righting themselves, magical storm clouds and giant Akumas were disappearing in a flash of scarlet lights.

“What?” Hawkmoth stepped back as the building around them rose back to a sitting position. Ladybugs swirled around their arms, legs, torso, filling the sky in seconds. “How?”

The ladybugs began to converge around their holder, buildings rising, connecting, moving away from the figure until at last-

Mightillustrator was there.

He hovered in the sky, his wings a brilliant red, the stripes on his suit replaced with dots, earrings glinting in the light.

The afternoon sun surrounded him like a halo. Reverser felt the breath escape from his lips, his eyes locked onto the angelic guardian floating above them, holding his hand in the air as the ladybugs streamed around the spotted red pencil in his fingers and disappeared.

“Might!” Chat Noir yelled, his face lighting up.

“Might,” Reverser whispered, tears running down his face.

“This is Bunnix,” A voice called on the radio. “I'm on my way.”

“This is Pegasus-”

“This is Viperion-”

“Rena Rouge, reporting in-”

“Hey, it's Carap-”

“KING MONKEY HERE-”

“This is Ryuko-”

The voices filled Reverser's head like the most cacophonous and the most beautiful melody he had ever heard. He thought he could see them, indistinct shapes on the horizon.

Hawkmoth turned and ran.

“Ladybug!” Chat Noir slid to kneel next to the previous Dark Lady. She stirred a little, a faint breath escaping her lips.

Reverser glanced back at Mightillustrator to see the artist staring directly at him.

Summoning as much energy as he could muster, Reverser gave a thumbs up.

Mightillustrator nodded and flew away.

Reverser let his hand fall as he sank back against the balcony.

Everything was going to be okay.

~oOo~

Mightillustrator landed in street next to the alleyway with a few quick steps.

“Spots off,” he whispered, and the spots on his suit returned to their normal striped color.

Mightillustrator nodded respectfully to the little red kwami that circled around him.

“Thanks, Tikki,” he said.

“No problem!” The Kwami responded, smiling brightly.

Mightillustrator pulled off the earrings and handed them to her. “You sure she's...”

“Mhm! The Lucky Charm should have fixed everything!” Tikki zoomed into the alley, out of sight.

Might took a second to lean against the wall and breathe.

It was over.

They'd won.

Moments later, Mightillustrator heard footsteps approaching.

“You did well,” Ladybug's voice said.

“All I did was throw a magic pencil in the air,” Might said. “Reverser and Chat Noir did all the work.”

Ladybug's laugh made him smile a little. “But you were there when they needed you,” she said. “Don't be too down on yourself.”

Mightillustrator nodded, then realized Ladybug was on the other side of the wall and couldn't see him nodding. “Okay,” he said. “So what now?”

“What do you think?”

Might tapped his lip. “The Ladybug who used to be Dark Lady needs to be sent back to her time,” he said. “We should probably talk with Bunnix.”

“I'll take care of that,” Ladybug said. “You've got something else to take care of.”

“Oh. Right. Thanks, by the way,” Might said. “For telling me he was at the park.”

Ladybug's voice to a more warning tone. “You've got to be more careful now,” she said. “I'm assuming he knows your identity now?”

“Yeah.”

“And you know that puts you at more risk?”

Mightillustrator smiled. “I almost lost him because I was afraid to take risks,” he said. “I'm not making that mistake again.”

“Alright then. Go on.”

~oOo~

“How are you feeling, Verse?” Bunnix helped Reverser to his feet.

“Don't call me-” Reverser sighed. “I'm fine. The Lucky Charm pulled me away from the brink of death, but don't expect me to stay conscious unless something incredible happens.”

The heroes huddled together, talking with each other, trading stories, making apologies, and checking up on the new Ladybug, who was still sitting on the ground, head in her hands. Chat Noir had left for a few moments to retransform and was now talking animatedly to King Monkey and Ryuko.

“Well,” Bunnix said, looking up in the distance. “I think something incredible just dropped in.”

Mightillustrator landed in front of the group. “Hey,” he said, waving a hand in greeting.

“Hey, Mightybug!” Chat Noir called.

“Mightybug?”

“Yeah!” Chat Noir grinned. “Since you had the Ladybug miraculous!”

“Sure, sure, whatever,” Might said, pushing past them. “Hey Rev, how are you-”

Reverser pulled Mightillustrator into a hug.

“I promised you could always count on me,” Might said, returning the embrace.

Reverser nodded. “Yeah,” he choked. “You did.”

“Reverser? Showing emotion and physical affection?” Rena Rouge whispered to Carapace. “Are we sure it's him?”

“Up yours, Rena,” Reverser shot back, burying his face into Mightillustrator's neck.

Might's face was hidden in the large folds of Reverser's hood, so only he could see how Mightillustrator smiled affectionately, pressing a light kiss to his cheek.

The last rays of golden sunset pulled away as the night set in.

“What do we do now?” Might whispered.

Reverser slid his hands up to wrap behind Might's neck. “I have some ideas,” he said, snapping his fingers. The glider flew between them and the rest of the gawking crowd of heroes, forming a black and white barrier between them.

“Oh, fuck you!” Bunnix yelled.

Mightillustrator kissed him. Reverser kissed him back. It was a short kiss, hastily broken when Rena Rouge knocked down the glider, but it promised many more moments to come, a thousand more kisses between two heroes, two boys so in love the whole world could have seen it as clearly as the sun and moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Final Art: https://dragonchris.tumblr.com/post/629539209482485760/art-from-chapter-nineteen-of-miracles-stories-of


	20. An End and Afterwards

Even after the Lucky Charm fixed everything, there were still a lot of problems to solve.

“Okay,” Bunnix said. “So most of the Akumas are dealt with. That's good. The problem is that the Akumas that I put in...what did you call it? The 'time jail'...they're still there.”

“Sounds like a you problem,” Mightillustrator said.

Bunnix sighed. “Yep. But thanks to a note from a good ol' friend named future me, I know how to fix all of this. I just need Reverser's help for one little detail.”

“Me?”

Bunnix opened the portal. “I'm going to need to use the help of two Akumas to fix this: Oblivio to erase everyone's memories so the plane crash in the future happens as planned, and Malediktator to decree that Oblivio will follow my orders so I can make them do that. Luckily, I already have both of them. Maledikator was already captured and tied up by Darkblade, so he was easy to get under control.”

“Well, what do I do?”

“I need you to reverse Malediktator's take-charge attitude,” Bunnix said. “So I can tell him to make Oblivio obey me and he'll do it.”

Reverser sighed. “Do I get paid overtime for this?”

“Do you get paid anything for hero work?”

“Good point.” Reverser turned to Chat Noir. “Do we get paid?”

“You get paid in justice and good feelings,” Chat Noir said with a straight face.

“I want a raise.”

“You get me,” Mightillustrator said, slinging an arm around Reverser's shoulders and wiggling his eyebrows.

Reverser laughed. “I think I can live with that.”

Mightillustrator looked up to see the rest of the hero group staring at him. Carapace motioned between the two of them, mouthing “What happened?” While Rena Rouge had unrolled her flute into its screen function and was taking photos.

“Alright,” Bunnix said, motioning to Reverser. “Just to let you all know, I have to erase your memories too, including my own. No one can know about Dark Lady's akumatization before it happens. And I'm gonna have to do a little improvising so everyone thinks leaving a day after we were supposed to go is a totally normal thing. After that, I'll need to have Ladybug to purify Chessur's feather, we rescue the superheroes who got teleported by him and the people who were injured in the plane crash, and...” Bunnix yawned. “We should be good!”

“Don't strain yourself,” Might said.

Bunnix laughed. “I don't know the meaning of the word.”

Reverser turned to Mightillustrator. “See you later,” he said.

Might nodded. “Whenever later is.”

Reverser turned and walked into the portal.

~oOo~

_Approximately some time in the future, who knows at this point-_

Marc opened his eyes and squinted at the bright purple light in front of his face.

“Welcome back,” Bunnix said, as Oblivio pulled their arm away.

Marc looked up. He was lying on his back under the Eiffel tower and a night sky. His body was aching, but at this point he was used to waking up and hurting all over. It was practically a trend now.

“Ugh,” Marc said, turning away from Bunnix. “It's weird remembering yourself from two different perspectives at once.”

“So I've been told,” Bunnix said. “The moment I woke up Nathaniel, he got upset because this is the second time he's torn your journal.”

“It's all good,” Marc said. “My journal's fixed now-” he patted the ground around him. “Shit, where is it?”

Bunnix waved the journal in front of his face. “You-”

“I left it with you before you erased my memories, right,” Marc said. “Sorry, this is...a lot to remember at once.”

“I get it,” Bunnix said, handing the journal to him. “We've already got Mayor Bourgeois and the rest of the crew safely back home, but the international trip might be postponed for a while.”

Marc snorted. “I bet,” he said.

Bunnix helped him up. “I'll come back later so you can un-reverse Oblivio and Malediktator, but until then,” she patted him on the back. “Get some rest, kid.”

“Thanks.”

Marc felt like he wasn't really present the entire bus ride home. Memories and tidbits of information swirled around his head, making him feel dizzy with the amount of new and old information that he was relearning. He could remember being Revisionist. He remembered fighting Might, the moments after, the moment where he'd inadvertently told Might that he liked him, but hadn't realized it at the time.

 _Yes, I do like Nathaniel Kurtzberg_ , Marc thought as he recalled the shock on Might's face. _Funny how things work out sometimes._

Eventually, he made his way home, to his bedroom, pulling the journal out of his backpack and sitting on his bed, preparing to write down all of his memories so he would never forget them again: the good ones, the bad ones, the ones that would make his heart skip when he re-read them-

He heard a knocking sound.

Marc paused and looked up to the door, but no one was there. He glanced over to the window to see Mightillustrator leaning through his newly-erased window, knocking on the inside of the wall with a cheeky grin on his face.

Marc sighed and let the journal fall against his knees. “Well, at least you knocked this time,” he said.

Mightillustrator stepped inside with a casual air, carefully navigating around the rainbow-colored flower crown on the edge of the windowsill. “You kept it,” he whispered, smiling.

“Well, it's pretty and made of paper,” Marc said, a hint of a smirk crossing his face. “Is there a reason you're here, or...?”

Mightillustrator moved to sit on the edge of the bed. “I promised you we'd go out for ice cream after this,” he said.

“Do you think we can postpone that for a bit?” Marc smiled apologetically. “I mean, it's almost midnight, and I'm pretty tired after everything that's happened.”

Might nodded. “Yeah, me too.” He glanced around the room, letting out a long breath. “Do you-is it alright if I stay here for a while?”

Marc paused. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah!” Might smiled. “I just wanted...to see you. That's all.”

“Oh.” Marc nodded. “Yeah, it's no problem.”

Mightillustrator clicked his pen, and with a flash, detransformed into Nathaniel. He leaned back on the bed, hands over his stomach, looking up at the ceiling.

Marc smiled fondly at him and went back to writing.

He was a good three paragraphs in when the bed shifted and a hand tapped on the top of his journal.

Marc stopped writing and Nathaniel slowly pulled the journal lower so he could see Marc's face.

“Yes?” Marc asked, his throat suddenly feeling dry at how intently Nathaniel was staring at him.

“Uh...” Nathaniel bit his lip, glancing away, a light pink dusting his cheeks. “I...well...”

Oh.

Marc closed his journal and set it to the side, suddenly feeling a lot less tired and a lot more anxious. Nathaniel moved closer, half clambering over Marc's legs to wrap his arms around the writer. He pressed a light kiss to Marc's lips, a simple and sweet thing that perfectly encapsulated the careful but tender energy between them.

“Hey,” he said. “Are we...is that what dating is?”

Marc laughed, all too aware of how close Nathaniel was, somehow managing to keep his cool even though he felt like his heart might explode. “Are you asking if I'd like to be your boyfriend?”

Nathaniel gave a quick nod. “Are we boyfriends now?”

“Yes,” Marc said, laughing. “We're boyfriends now.”

“That's good,” Nathaniel said, shifting his weight forward and placing both hands pointedly on either side of Marc's body, his blue eyes glinting. “Because I distinctly remember someone who told me they were going to 'ride me until morning' and I thought I should return the favor.”

_Oh._

“Uh...” Marc's face felt like a thousand suns were burning under his cheeks. “Gosh...well...I mean...” he stammered.

Nathaniel laughed, pressing a kiss to Marc's cheek. “I'm joking,” he whispered.

“Oh my god,” Marc said, squeezing his eyes closed.

A part of him still couldn't believe that it was Nathaniel saying those words to him, Nathaniel in his room, kissing him, smiling at him, making him feel as fluttery as a piece of paper in the wind. But Nathaniel was in front of him now, like a dream that was too perfect to be real but somehow was anyway.

“Maybe later,” Nathaniel said, flopping down next to Marc, curling around him into a more comfortable position.

Marc's mind was whirling at a thousand miles per hour. “Wait-later?” He squawked.

“I mean, if you're okay with it,” Nathaniel said, nuzzling his face into the crook of Marc's neck.

Marc huffed, but relaxed into Nathaniel's embrace. “I can't believe I didn't realize you were Might before,” he said, smiling, their faces inches from each other. “You're a dork.”

Marc could feel the warm breath on his chin as Nathaniel laughed. “I wanted to tell you so many times.”

“I shot you down so many times,” Marc lamented. “We could have had this sooner if I had just-”

“It's okay,” Nathaniel said. “We're together now. That's all that matters.”

Marc leaned forward, Nathaniel's bangs tickling his nose, his eyes fluttering closed. “Yeah,” he said. “Oh, by the way.”

“Hm?”

“I love you too,” Marc said. “I've loved you for the longest time, and I'm so glad I can say it now.”

Nathaniel hummed contently, already drifting asleep, holding Marc close while Marc held him closer.

It was no longer a normal day in Paris.

They weren't normal people.

And that was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the Dark Lady saga comes to an end...  
> Thank you to all you lovely people who stuck by until the end  
> Thank you to all the people who commented and left kudos and enjoyed this fic in general  
> I had a lot of fun writing this and I'm a little sad to see it end but I've got plenty of other fics planned.  
> And who knows? Maybe Mightillustrator and Reverser will team up once again.  
> Have a good approximate past/present/future everyone! ^-^
> 
> -Christallized


End file.
